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Simulation of wind profiles from a space‐borne Doppler wind lidar
Author(s) -
Marseille G. J.,
Stoffelen A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1256/qj.02.96
Subject(s) - lidar , environmental science , meteorology , satellite , wind speed , numerical weather prediction , remote sensing , doppler effect , troposphere , geology , aerospace engineering , geography , engineering , physics , astronomy
The importance of wind observations for meteorological analysis has been recognized for many years. The current global observing system lacks a uniform distribution of tropospheric wind measurements, especially in the tropics and southern hemisphere, and over the northern‐hemisphere oceans. A Doppler wind lidar (DWL) mounted on a space‐borne platform has the potential to provide a global three‐dimensional coverage of wind data. The European Space Agency has decided to fly in 2007 a DWL on a polar‐orbiting satellite platform as part of the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission, now called Aeolus. The proposed DWL is a non‐scanning single‐perspective instrument, operating in the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum, providing profiles of line‐of‐sight (LOS) wind components from detected light backscattered from the illuminated atmospheric volume. The concept has been simulated and was used in observation‐system simulation experiments to assess its potential impact on numerical weather prediction and climate processes. This paper describes the simulation of Aeolus LOS wind‐component profiles and their expected quality in cloud‐free and cloudy conditions. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society