Quality aspects of the measurements of a wind profiler in a complex topography

Abstract

It is well known amongst the scientific community that some remote sensing instruments have assumed that sample volumes present homogeneous conditions within a defined meteorological profile. At complex topographic sites and under extreme meteorological conditions, this assumption may be fallible depending on the site, and it is more likely to fail in the lower layers of the atmosphere. This piece of work tests the homogeneity of the wind field over a boundary layer wind profiler radar located in a complex terrain on the coast, under different meteorological conditions. The results reveal the qualitative importance of being aware of the deviations of this homogeneity assumption and evaluate its effect on the final product. Patterns of behaviour in data have been identified in order to simplify the analysis of the complex signal registered. <br><br> The quality information obtained from the homogeneity study under different meteorological conditions is useful to look for the best alternatives the system can offer to build wind profiles. Finally, the results are also to be considered in order to integrate them in a quality algorithm implemented at product level