3D wind observations with a compact mobile lidar based on tropo- and stratospheric aerosol backscatter

Abstract

We present the first measurements of simultaneous horizontal and vertical winds using a new lidar system developed at the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn, Germany (54.12° N, 11.77° E), for the concept of Vertical And Horizontal COverage by LIdars (VAHCOLI). We describe the technical details of a multi-field-of-view (MFOV) upgrade, which allows the measurement of wind dynamics in the transition region from microscale to mesoscale (103–104 m). The method was applied at the edge of a developing high-pressure region, covering altitudes between 3 and 25 km. Comparisons between the lidar measurements and data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) show excellent agreement for the meridional wind component along the north beam of the lidar, which is better than 0.30±0.33 m s−1, while along the south beam, a higher deviation with -0.93±0.73 m s−1 is observed. Measurements of vertical wind show a significant underestimation of this component by ECMWF. Comparison of Aeolus winds to the lidar winds projected to the Aeolus viewing direction shows good agreement, with results better than -0.12±3.31 m s−1. The capability of the MFOV lidar to explore small-scale asymmetries in the wind field is shown by a comparison of the north and south field of view, where we observe a wind asymmetry in the meridional winds, which is also present in ECMWF but underestimated by a factor of approximately 4.