A Comparison of Boundary Layer Wind Profiling Systems for Use with Space Launch Vehicles

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch assesses data

from ranges in the United States that end users use for space launch vehicles. Two such

sites, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and Vandenberg Air Force Base

(VAFB) currently contain their own networks of 915-MHz Doppler Radar Wind Profilers

(DRWP) to measure boundary layer winds from near the surface to over four kilometers.

Boundary layer winds are important during launch, and observations of such can be used

as input to toxic dispersion models and in case of a low-level abort. However, these 915-

MHz DRWP systems are nearing the end of their service life and need to be replaced by

systems with similar capabilities. The United States Air Force funded testing of a

Radiometrics 449-MHz DRWP and a Leosphere Windcube Lidar at both CCAFS and

VAFB. Both systems observe the boundary layer and provide profiles every one to five

minutes. The systems were compared to each other, to the legacy 915-MHz DRWP and

to concurrent weather balloon measurements. The effective vertical resolution for both

systems were also determined as was data availability. This paper describes in detail the

systems, the comparisons that were performed, and the results from these comparisons.