Instrument configuration for dual-Doppler lidar coplanar scans: METCRAX II

Abstract The second Meteor Crater Experiment (METCRAX II) was designed to study downslope-windstorm-type flows occurring at the Barringer Meteorite Crater in Arizona. Two Doppler wind lidars were deployed to perform a coplanar dual-Doppler lidar analysis to capture the two-dimensional (2-D) vertical structure of these flows in the crater basin. This type of analysis allows the flow to be resolved on a 2-D Cartesian grid constructed in the range height indicator scan overlap region. Previous studies have shown that the dominant error in the coplanar dual-Doppler analysis mentioned above is due to the under sampling of radial velocities. Hence, it is necessary to optimize the setup and choose a scan strategy that minimizes the under sampling of radial velocities and provides a good spatial as well as temporal coverage of these short-lived events. A lidar simulator was developed using a large Eddy simulation wind field to optimize the lidar parameters for METCRAX II field experiment. A retrieval technique based on the weighted least squares technique with weights calculated based on the relative location of the lidar range gate centers to the grid intersection point was developed. The instrument configuration was determined by comparing the simulator retrievals to the background wind field and taking into account the limitations of commercially available lidars.

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