Validation of wind profiles measured with incoherent Doppler lidar

A high-resolution incoherent Doppler lidar has been constructed at the University of Michigan Space Physics Research Laboratory. The primary purpose of this lidar is to measure vertical profiles of the horizontal wind field with high spatial and temporal resolution. In mid-1994 a rawinsonde system was used to assess the performance of the lidar. The resulting comparisons of profiles from the balloons and the lidar are shown. The comparisons show an similar to 2-m/s rms error between the two systems. The reasons for this error are discussed, and a sensitivity study is shown to illustrate the sensitivity of the lidar wind measurements to various system parameters. Finally, steps that are being taken to improve the systematic errors are discussed. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.