A novel method for estimating the atmospheric turbulence vertical structure using coherent doppler wind lidar data from cone scanning

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A novel methodology has been developed in this study for retrieving turbulence parameters in the atmospheric boundary layer using conical scanning data from a Coherent Doppler wind Lidar (CDL). The vertical distribution of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates (\(\varepsilon\)) is estimated based on the Azimuth Structure Function (ASF) approach. These dissipation rates are subsequently applied to spectral analysis of the three-dimensional wind field, where the frequency ranges for both spectral fitting and integration are dynamically adjusted to enhance the accuracy of power-law exponent and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) estimations. Validation experiments were conducted through comparisons with measurements obtained from ultrasonic anemometers. The results demonstrate strong consistency in the structural variation trends of \(\varepsilon\) derived from both methods. Additionally, the distribution of power-law exponent fitting residuals (ranging from 0.4 to 1.2) and the sensitivity of TKE estimations to frequency adjustments (ranging from 5 to 24%) were analyzed across different altitudes for the three wind components (U, V, and W). Moreover, continuous turbulence observation experiments under varying weather conditions revealed distinct spatiotemporal patterns of directional TKE and their corresponding responses to variations in the power-law exponent. This study offers a methodological advancement that improves the characterization of atmospheric turbulence in the boundary layer.

This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences [Grant No. XDA17040524]; and the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42405069).

State Key Laboratory of Laser Interaction With Matter, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China

University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

School of Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, Hefei University, Hefei, 230601, China

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