Publication Date:
2014-01-01
Description:
In this study the crosswind (U⊥) is determined from the time-lag correlation function [r12(τ)] measured by a dual large-aperture scintillometer; U⊥ is defined as the wind component perpendicular to a path—in this case, the scintillometer path. A scintillometer obtains a path-averaged U⊥, which for some applications is an advantage compared to other wind measurement devices. Four methods were used to obtain U⊥: the peak method, the Briggs method, the zero-slope method, and the lookup table method. This last method is a new method introduced in this paper, which obtains U⊥ by comparing r12(τ) of a measurement to r12(τ) of a theoretical model. The U⊥ values obtained from the scintillometer were validated with sonic anemometer measurements. The best results were obtained by the zero-slope method for U⊥ 〈 2 m s−1 and by the lookup table method for U⊥ 〉 2 m s−1. The Briggs method also showed promising results, but it is not always able to obtain U⊥. The results showed that a high parallel wind component (〉2.5 m s−1) on the scintillometer path can cause an overestimation of U⊥ mainly for low U⊥ values (
Print ISSN:
0739-0572
Electronic ISSN:
1520-0426
Topics:
Geography
,
Geosciences
,
Physics
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