Wind Fields and Aerosol Structures from the REAL at M2HATS

We deployed the Raman-shifted Eye-safe Aerosol Lidar (REAL) at the Multipoint MOST Horizontal Array Turbulence Study (M2HATS) in Tonopah, Nevada, from July through September of 2023. The REAL scanned horizontally over a linear array of 50 sonic anemometers at 4 m AGL and spaced 5 m apart. 60 degree wide sector scans of elastic aerosol backscatter were collected every 17 s. The Typhoon wavelet-based motion estimation algorithm was applied to the images to derive vector flow fields. The observations will allow us to determine the filtering effect of this PIV-style wind measurement technique and contribute to testing the multipoint Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory. In addition, the REAL imagery reveals interesting turbulent coherent structures associated with wind gusts.