Spatial resolution enhancement of coherent Doppler wind lidar using differential correlation pair technique

Area of Science:

• Atmospheric Science
• Optical Remote Sensing
• Meteorology

Background:

• Coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL) is crucial for atmospheric wind profiling.
• Conventional CDWL methods face limitations in spatial resolution and accuracy due to factors like laser spectral broadening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and demonstrate a novel differential correlation pair (DCP) technique for high spatial resolution CDWL.
• To enhance wind velocity accuracy and overcome limitations of conventional CDWL schemes.

Main Methods:

• The differential correlation pair (DCP) technique utilizes pulse pairs and window functions to improve spatial resolution.
• Differential data processing eliminates common parts of the correlation pair, reducing noise and improving signal quality.
• The method was validated through comparative experiments against conventional CDWL systems.

Main Results:

• The DCP technique achieves higher wind velocity accuracy compared to conventional pulsed CDWL under similar peak power.
• It effectively avoids laser spectral broadening issues associated with short pulses.
• Continuous radial wind profiling over 700 m was achieved with a spatial resolution of 3.3 m, temporal resolution of 1 s, and a maximum error of 0.1 m/s at 250 W peak power.

Conclusions:

• The proposed DCP technique significantly enhances the spatial resolution and accuracy of coherent Doppler wind lidar.
• This advancement enables more precise atmospheric wind profiling, crucial for meteorological and atmospheric science applications.
• The DCP method offers a superior alternative to conventional CDWL schemes, particularly in demanding measurement scenarios.