Articles | Volume 16, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4675-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4675-2016
Research article
 | 
14 Apr 2016
Research article |  | 14 Apr 2016

Vertical wind retrieved by airborne lidar and analysis of island induced gravity waves in combination with numerical models and in situ particle measurements

Fernando Chouza, Oliver Reitebuch, Michael Jähn, Stephan Rahm, and Bernadett Weinzierl

Abstract. This study presents the analysis of island induced gravity waves observed by an airborne Doppler wind lidar (DWL) during SALTRACE. First, the instrumental corrections required for the retrieval of high spatial resolution vertical wind measurements from an airborne DWL are presented and the measurement accuracy estimated by means of two different methods. The estimated systematic error is below −0.05 m s−1 for the selected case of study, while the random error lies between 0.1 and 0.16 m s−1 depending on the estimation method.

Then, the presented method is applied to two measurement flights during which the presence of island induced gravity waves was detected. The first case corresponds to a research flight conducted on 17 June 2013 in the Cabo Verde islands region, while the second case corresponds to a measurement flight on 26 June 2013 in the Barbados region. The presence of trapped lee waves predicted by the calculated Scorer parameter profiles was confirmed by the lidar and in situ observations. The DWL measurements are used in combination with in situ wind and particle number density measurements, large-eddy simulations (LES), and wavelet analysis to determine the main characteristics of the observed island induced trapped waves.

Download
Short summary
This study presents the analysis of island induced gravity waves observed by an airborne Doppler wind lidar (DWL). First, the instrumental corrections required for the retrieval vertical wind measurements from an airborne DWL are presented. Then, the method is applied to two case studies to determine, in combination with numerical models and in situ measurements, the main characteristics of the observed waves.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint