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Updated: Aug 29, 2026
Simultaneous Measurement of Turbulence and Particle Kinematics Using Flow Imaging Techniques
Published on: March 12, 2019
Wind-velocity lidar measurements by use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, comparison with a Fabry-Perot
Didier Bruneau1, Anne Garnier, Albert Hertzog
1Service d'Aéronomie, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France. didier.bruneau@aero.jussieu.fr
Abstract:
We present the first wind-velocity profiles obtained with a direct-detection Doppler lidar that uses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as spectral discriminator. The measurements were performed in the lower stratosphere, between 10 and 40 km in altitude, at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP), France, during nighttime. They are in excellent agreement with those obtained simultaneously and independently with the already validated double Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) of the OHP Doppler lidar (mean difference lower than the combined standard deviation). A statistical analysis shows that the random error obtained with this experimental MZI is 1.94 times the Cramer-Rao lower bound and is approximately half of that given by the FPI (both operating in photometric mode). Nevertheless, the present MZI measurements are sensitive to the presence of atmospheric particles and need an additional correction, whereas the OHP FPI is designed to be insensitive to particulate scattering.
