Open AccessLidar observations of flow variability over complex terrain
Author(s) -
Barkwith A.,
Collier C. G.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1002/met.244
Subject(s) - terrain , lidar , boundary layer , orography , planetary boundary layer , flow (mathematics) , instrumentation (computer programming) , remote sensing , meteorology , environmental science , convective boundary layer , doppler effect , geology , computer science , aerospace engineering , geography , mechanics , physics , operating system , astronomy , engineering , precipitation , cartography
This paper examines one way in which remote sensing instrumentation can be used to advance our understanding of the interactions between complex terrain and the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). When mean flow speed is of moderate strength and the ABL is stable, mechanical effects will dominate thermal effects in modifying flow speed and direction. Boundary layer measurements were made using the scanning Salford 10 µm pulsed CO 2 Doppler lidar during the 2005 Convective Storm Initiation Project (CSIP), above the heterogeneous orography that surrounds Faccombe, Hampshire, UK. A new method of detecting boundary layer flow perturbations was developed and successfully applied to the lidar data, giving a clearer insight into flow modification that occurs above complex terrain. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society