Gust-detection from velocity azimuth display Doppler wind lidar profiling at the WiValdi research park.

Abstract

This study presents a new retrieval for gusts from Doppler wind lidar (DWL) velocity azimuth display (VAD) scans. The scanning mode which is presented allows for retrieval of mean wind speed, vertical wind speed, turbulence kinetic energy and peak gust speed with a single strategy. It is validated against sonic anemometer measurements at 90 m above ground and a reference DWL gust mode with faster scanning speed at the boundary-layer field site Falkenberg of the DWD. The new algorithm is then run on a multi-year dataset to obtain statistics of gusts at the WiValdi research park. It enables analyses not only at hub height, but also up to 500 m aloft with a reasonable availability above 60%. A case study of a convective cold pool shows the potential of the method to detect and analyze the vertical and horizontal structure of gusts with the proposed method. It highlights the importance of measurements throughout the boundary layer to understand the related physical processes to wind ramps and gusts.