Zhifeng Shu

Mid-altitude wind measurements with mobile Rayleigh Doppler lidar incorporating system-level optical frequency control method

A mobile Rayleigh Doppler lidar based on double-edge technique is developed for mid-altitude wind observation. To reduce the systematic error, a system-level optical frequency control method is proposed and demonstrated. The emission of the seed laser at 1064 nm is used to synchronize the FPI in the optical frequency domain. A servo loop stabilizing the frequency of the seed laser is formed by measuring the absolute frequency of the second harmonic against an iodine absorption line. And, the third harmonic is used for Rayleigh lidar detection. The frequency stability is 1.6 MHz at 1064 nm over 2 minutes. A locking accuracy of 0.3 MHz at 1064 nm is realized. In comparison experiments, wind profiles from the lidar, radiosonde and European Center for Medium range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) analysis show good agreement from 8 km to 25 km. Wind observation over two months is carried out in Urumqi (42.1°N, 87.1°E), northwest of China, demonstrating the stability and robustness of the system. For the first time, quasi-zero wind layer and dynamic evolution of high-altitude tropospheric jet are observed based on Rayleigh Doppler lidar in Asia.

Mobile Rayleigh Doppler lidar for wind and temperature measurements in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere

A mobile Rayleigh Doppler lidar based on the molecular double-edge technique is developed for measuring wind velocity in the middle atmosphere up to 60 km. The lidar uses three lasers with a mean power of 17.5 W at 355 nm each and three 1 m diameter telescopes to receive the backscattered echo: one points to zenith for vertical wind component and temperature measurement; the two others pointing toward east and north are titled at 30° from the zenith for zonal and meridional wind component, respectively. The Doppler shift of the backscattered echo is measured by inter-comparing the signal detected through each of the double-edge channels of a triple Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) tuned to either side of the emitted laser line. The third channel of FPI is used for frequency locking and a locking accuracy of 1.8 MHz RMS (root-mean-square) at 355 nm over 2 hours is realized, corresponding to a systematic error of 0.32 m/s. In this paper, we present detailed technical evolutions on system calibration. To validate the performance of the lidar, comparison experiments was carried out in December 2013, which showed good agreement with radiosondes but notable biases with ECMWF (European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasts) in the height range of overlapping data. Wind observation over one month performed in Delhi (37.371° N, 97.374° E), northwest of China, demonstrated the stability and robustness of the system.

Stratospheric temperature measurement with scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer for wind retrieval from mobile Rayleigh Doppler lidar

Temperature detection remains challenging in the low stratosphere, where the Rayleigh integration lidar is perturbed by aerosol contamination and ozone absorption while the rotational Raman lidar is suffered from its low scattering cross section. To correct the impacts of temperature on the Rayleigh Doppler lidar, a high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) based on cavity scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) is developed. By considering the effect of the laser spectral width, Doppler broadening of the molecular backscatter, divergence of the light beam and mirror defects of the FPI, a well-behaved transmission function is proved to show the principle of HSRL in detail. Analysis of the statistical error of the HSRL is carried out in the data processing. A temperature lidar using both HSRL and Rayleigh integration techniques is incorporated into the Rayleigh Doppler wind lidar. Simultaneous wind and temperature detection is carried out based on the combined system at Delhi (37.371°N, 97.374°E; 2850 m above the sea level) in Qinghai province, China. Lower Stratosphere temperature has been measured using HSRL between 18 and 50 km with temporal resolution of 2000 seconds. The statistical error of the derived temperatures is between 0.2 and 9.2 K. The temperature profile retrieved from the HSRL and wind profile from the Rayleigh Doppler lidar show good agreement with the radiosonde data. Specifically, the max temperature deviation between the HSRL and radiosonde is 4.7 K from 18 km to 36 km, and it is 2.7 K between the HSRL and Rayleigh integration lidar from 27 km to 34 km.

Mobile Rayleigh Doppler wind lidar based on double-edge technique

We describe a mobile molecular Doppler wind lidar (DWL) based on double-edge technique for wind measurement of altitudes ranging from 10 to 40 km. A triple Fabry-Perot etalon is employed as a frequency discriminator to determine the Doppler shift proportional to the wind velocity. The lidar operates at 355 nm with a 45-cm-aperture telescope and a matching azimuth-over-elevation scanner that provides full hemispherical pointing. To guarantee wind accuracy, a single servo loop is used to monitor the outgoing laser frequency to remove inaccuracies due to the frequency drift of the laser or the etalon. The standard deviation of the outgoing laser frequency drift is 6.18 MHz and the corresponding velocity error is 1.11 m/s. The wind profiles measured by the DWL are in good agreement with the results of the wind profile radar (WPR). Evaluation is achieved by comparing at altitudes from 2 to 8 km. The relative error of horizontal wind speed is from 0.8 to 1.8 m/s in the compared ranges. The wind accuracy is less than 6 m/s at 40 km and 3 m/s at 10 km.

Low Stratospheric Wind Measurement Using Mobile Rayleigh Doppler Wind LIDAR

A mobile Rayleigh Doppler wind LIDAR at an eye-safe wavelength of 355 nm incorporating double-edge technique with triple-channel Fabry-Perot etalon is developed for wind measurement from 5 to 40km. The structure of this LIDAR system is described. An intercomparsion experiment with rawinsonde is made, showing good agreement with expected measurement accuracy. A continuous observation of stratosphere wind field for several days with temporal resolution of 15 min and spatial resolution of 200 m from 5 to 40 km is presented, demonstrating the stability and robustness of the LIDAR. A stratospheric quasi-zero wind layer can be found at around 20 km with a direction change from east to west evident in the continuous observation.

Analysis on error of laser frequency locking for fiber optical receiver in direct detection wind lidar based on Fabry–Perot interferometer and improvements

Abstract. Direct detection Doppler wind lidar (DWL) has been demonstrated for its capability of atmospheric wind detection ranging from the troposphere to stratosphere with high temporal and spatial resolution. We design and describe a fiber-based optical receiver for direct detection DWL. Then the locking error of the relative laser frequency is analyzed and the dependent variables turn out to be the relative error of the calibrated constant and the slope of the transmission function. For high accuracy measurement of the calibrated constant for a fiber-based system, an integrating sphere is employed for its uniform scattering. What is more, the feature of temporally widening the pulse laser allows more samples be acquired for the analog-to-digital card of the same sampling rate. The result shows a relative error of 0.7% for a calibrated constant. For the latter, a new improved locking filter for a Fabry–Perot Interferometer was considered and designed with a larger slope. With these two strategies, the locking error for the relative laser frequency is calculated to be about 3 MHz, which is equivalent to a radial velocity of about 0.53  m/s and demonstrates the effective improvements of frequency locking for a robust DWL.

Mobile incoherent Doppler lidar using fiber-based lidar receivers

Abstract. A mobile incoherent Doppler lidar was developed at the University of Science and Technology of China. The lidar consists of three subsystems. All subsystems are designed based on the well-proven double-edge technique, operate at 354.7 nm, and use Fabry–Perot etalons as frequency discriminators. The whole system is designed for wind measurement from 15- to 60-km height. In order to make the lidar receiver more compact and stable and to reduce interference between optical paths inside the receiver box, fiber splitters are introduced into the lidar receivers as a substitute for normally used discrete components. According to the stability of the splitter, the wind error dominated by the splitting ratio would be <0.49  m/s. To reduce luminance heterogeneity’s influence on the splitter performance, an integrating sphere is used in the system. Multiple measurements of transmission curves have a maximum mean squared error of 9.674E−5. A typical result of wind profile is also given to help demonstrate the reliability of the lidar and the fiber-based receiver.

Analysis on wind retrieval methods for Rayleigh Doppler lidar

Abstract. A modification method is described for Rayleigh Doppler lidar wind retrieval. Compared to the double-edge theory of Korb et al. [Appl. Opt. 38, 432 (1999)] and the retrieval algorithm of Chanin et al. [Geophys. Res. Lett. 16, 1273 (1989)], it has a greater sensitivity. The signal-to-noise ratio of the energy monitor channel is involved in error estimation. When the splitting ratio of the two signal channels is 1.2, which usually happened during wind detection, it will improve the measurement accuracy by about 1% at 30 km altitude for a Doppler shift of 250 MHz (44  m/s). Stabilities of retrieval methods, i.e., errors caused by the spectrum width deviation including laser pulse, Rayleigh backscatter, and filter transmission curve are first discussed. The proposed method increases the resultant precision by about 15% at 30-km altitude assuming an 8-MHz deviation in full width at half maximum of the Fabry–Perot interferometer.

Doppler LIDAR Measurement of Wind in the Stratosphere

A mobile direct detection Doppler LIDAR based on molecular backscattering for measurement of wind in the stratosphere has been developed in Hefei, China. First, the principle of wind measurement with direct detection Doppler LIDAR is presented. Then the configuration of the LIDAR system is described. Finally, the primary experimental results are provided and analyzed. The results indicate that the detection range of the designed Doppler LIDAR reached 50 km altitude, and there is good consistency between the molecular Doppler wind LIDAR(DWL) and the wind profile radar(WPR) in the low troposphere.

Low stratospheric zero wind layer measurement with Rayleigh Doppler lidar

Wind field is measured with a mobile Rayleigh Doppler Wind Lidar in China(41°N, 86°E). According to statistic data of wind field experiment in present-year, the low stratospheric zero wind Layer character over the region in summer and early autumn has been obtained, the zero wind layer generally exists on the height of from 18km to 23km, the wind speed is mostly less than 8m/s and the wind direction of zero wind layer understratum and superstratum is inverse.