Comparisons of measurements made using two sodars in an urban environment

Acoustic sounders or sodars are used in many different applications in which profiles of wind speed and wind direction in the lower atmosphere are required. During the Urban Dispersion Program's (UDP) Spring 2005 field campaign two sodars: a Scintec MFAS sodar and an AeroVironment (AV) Model 3000 MiniSodar were deployed very close to each other at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken NJ. This study provides a unique opportunity to compare measurements from two sodars and a propeller anemometer in an urban environment. In general, there was good agreement between the wind speed measured by the Scintec sodar, the wind speed measured in the 60 m range gate by the AV miniSodar, and that measured by the anemometer on the SIT Tower, especially if one considers that the measurements from both sodars represent an average over a finite volume, while the anemometer on the SIT Tower is a single point measurement close to the building top.