Comparison of Measured Boundary Layer Heights from a Doppler Lidar and a Radar Wind Profiler during WFIP2

The Second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2) is a DOE- and NOAA-sponsored program with the primary objective of improving numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecasts of wind in complex terrain. During the 18-month field campaign of WFIP2, a large suite of in situ and remote sensing instrumentation, including a network of 915-MHz radar wind profilers (RWPs) and Doppler lidars, was deployed to the Pacific Northwest. Measurements from these instruments are used to validate NWP performance, understand physical processes and determine if they are well-simulated in models, and ultimately improve parameterizations and NWP physics for more accurate model forecasts.

A scanning Doppler lidar and RWP were collocated at a site near Wasco, Oregon. Measurements taken from both instrumentation are independently used to automatically produce estimates of the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH). In this presentation, PBLH measurements from both of these instruments will be compared to investigate relative biases and errors, including identifying atmospheric conditions when the PBLH measurements from either instrument is less accurate. The diurnal variation of the PBLH as identified from the two instruments will also be shown.