A VOLUME-IMAGING RADAR WIND PROFILER FOR ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY-LAYER TURBULENCE STUDIES

This paper describes the turbulent eddy profiler (TEP), a volume-imagi ng, UHF radar wind profiler designed for clear-air measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer on scales comparable to grid cell sizes of large eddy simulation models. TEP employs a large array of antennas-e ach feeding an independent receiver-to simultaneously generate multipl e beams within a 28 degrees conical volume illuminated by the transmit ter Range gating provides 30-m spatial resolution in the vertical dime nsion. Each volume image is updated every 2-10 a, and long datasets ca n be gathered to study the evolution of turbulent structure over sever al hours. A summary of the principles of operation and the design of T EP is provided, including examples of clear-air reflectivity and veloc ity images.