PERFORMANCE OF A 2-MU-M COHERENT DOPPLER LIDAR FOR WIND MEASUREMENTS

Measurements of boundary layer winds are presented using a 2-mu m cohe rent Doppler lidar and the optimal performance of the maximum likeliho od estimator The systematic error for single-shot estimates was estima ted as 3.6 cm s(-1) using measurements from a stationary hard target. The estimation error for measurements of the radial component of the w ind field was determined, as well as the fraction of the estimates tha t are randomly distributed over the velocity search space, when the si gnal power is low and speckle fading is important. The results from ac tual data are compared with the results from ideal simulations. The fi rst direct estimation of the spatial structure function of the radial wind field and of the energy dissipation rate is presented for both ho rizontal and vertical directions of propagation. The rms estimation er ror of the velocity estimates is found to be within 30% of ideal perfo rmance based on simulation.