Windshear Detection in Rain Using a 30 km Radius Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar at Mega Airport in Plateau

Abstract

Convective weather is often accompanied by precipitation and windshear, seriously endangering the safety of aircraft during takeoff and landing. However, under rainfall conditions, conventional wind lidars have a limited detection range due to significant signal attenuation. To solve this problem, a 200 mm temperature-controlled telescope coated with a hydrophobic film is applied in the coherent Doppler wind lidar system to improve the detection capability in rain. The maximum detection range of the lidar is extended to 30 km and demonstrated at Kunming Changshui International Airport at an altitude of 2102 m. Firstly, the detection accuracy and maximum detection range of the lidar are verified. Through the analysis of the horizontal wind field under two typical convective weather conditions, it is found that convective weather often accompanies low-level convergence and divergence structures, leading to headwind shear and crosswind shear on the airport runway. From the vertical profile, it is shown that the triggering of convective weather is accompanied by low-level southwest winds and high-altitude northeastern winds. According to the statistics of wind speed and direction on clear and rainy days over 9 months, rainy days are usually caused by the invasion of cold air from Northeast China, resulting in airport windshear. In summary, the enhanced lidar can effectively identify and analyze windshear during rainy days, which is very useful for aviation safety, especially for takeoff and landing in all weather conditions.

Keywords

• coherent Doppler wind lidar
• windshear
• rainy weather
• aviation safety