Comparison and Verification of Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar and Radiosonde Data in the Beijing Urban Area

As a new type of wind field detection equipment, coherent Doppler wind lidar(CDWL) still needs more relevant observation experiments to compare and verify whether it can achieve the accuracy and precision of traditional observation equipment in urban areas. In this experiment, a self-developed CDWL provided four months of observations in the southern Beijing area. After the data acquisition time and height match, the wind profile data obtained based on a Doppler beam swinging(DBS) five-beam inversion algorithm were compared with radiosonde data released from the same location. The standard deviation(SD) of wind speed is 0.8 m s^(–1), and the coefficient of determination R~2 is 0.95. The SD of the wind direction is 17.7° with an R~2 of 0.96. Below the height of the roughness sublayer(about 400 m), the error in wind speed and wind direction is significantly greater than the error above the height of the boundary layer(about 1500 m). For the case of wind speeds less than 4 m s^(–1), the error of wind direction is more significant and is affected by the distribution of surrounding buildings. Averaging at different height levels using suitable time windows can effectively reduce the effects of turbulence and thus reduce the error caused by the different measurement methods of the two devices.

Robust Solution for Boundary Layer Height Detections with Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar

Although coherent Doppler wind lidar(CDWL)is promising in detecting boundary layer height(BLH),differences between BLH results are observed when different CDWL measurements are used as tracers.Here,a robust solution for BLH detections with CDWL is proposed and demonstrated:mixed layer height(MLH)is retrieved best from turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate(TKEDR),while stable boundary layer height(SBLH)and residual layer height(RLH)can be retrieved from carrier-to-noise ratio(CNR).To study the cause of the BLH differences,an intercomparison experiment is designed with two identical CDWLs,where only one is equipped with a stability control subsystem.During the experiment,it is found that the CNR could be distorted by instrument instability because the coupling efficiency from free-space to the polarization-maintaining fiber of the telescope is sensitive to the surrounding environment.In the ML,a bias up to 2.13 km of the MLH from CNR is found,which is caused by the CNR deviation.In contrast,the MLH from TKEDR is robust as long as the accuracy of wind is guaranteed.In the SBL(RL),the CNR is found capable to retrieve SBLH and RLH simultaneously and robustly.This solution is tested during an observation period over one month.Statistical analysis shows that the root-mean-square errors(RMSE)in the MLH,SBLH,and RLH are 0.28 km,0.23 km,and 0.24 km,respectively.