Comparison of wind measurements between virtual tower and VAD methods with different elevation angles

This paper compares wind retrieval methods of VT (Virtual Tower) mode and VAD (Velocity-Azimuth Display) with different scanning elevation angles. The field experiment was performed from September 23 to October 13 2017 at the campus of Ocean University of China under various weather conditions. A total of seven lidars were involved in the experiment. Three lidars carried out the staring mode to constitute the VT. The other four lidars were concurrently operating PPI scanning at different elevation angles, corresponding to different spatial average volume. The results of wind speed and direction from VT and VAD shows good correlation when lidars are well synchronized. The influence of spatial homogeneity on wind retrieval is also described in this paper.