Comparing Pulsed Doppler LIDAR with SODAR and Direct Measurements for Wind Assessment

There is a pressing need for good wind-speed measurements at greater and greater heights to assess the availability of the resource in terms of power production and to identify any frequently occurring atmospheric structural characteristics that may create turbulence that impacts the operational reliability and lifetime of wind turbines and their components. In this paper, we summarize the results of a short study that compares the relative accuracies of wind speeds derived from a high-resolution pulsed Doppler LIDAR operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a midrange Doppler SODAR with wind speeds measured by four levels of tower-based sonic anemometry up to a height of 116 m.