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New scanning Doppler wind lidar for Cabauw installed at KNMI, De Bilt

Last Wednesday, March 3rd 2021, the Windcube 200S scanning Doppler wind lidar (Leosphere/Vaisala) was installed at the test field of KNMI in De Bilt. The instrument is part of the investments for Ruisdael Observatory.

The installation was part of an intensive two-day training by a Leosphere technician, in which five KNMI people participated. After the acceptance test in De Bilt that will take about 4 weeks, early April, the Windcube will be installed at Cabauw, on the north side of the Remote Sensing site, where it will provide detailed measurements of the wind field around Cabauw. One of its first jobs will be to take part in the planned Ruisdael field campaign in May.

The Windcube 200S measures radial wind speed with a user-configurable range resolution from 25m to 100m. Typical range is 6km, but depends on the atmospheric conditions. The height range is limited to the boundary layer, as the presence of aerosols are required. Several scan patterns can be scheduled, such as PPI (azimuthal scan), RHI (elevation scan) and DBS (to obtain vertical wind profile).

 Please contact PI Steven Knoop for more information.

The scanning capabilities of the Windcube 200S are illustrated by this image of the KNMI radome that shows the hard target (as opposed to atmospheric) returns detected by the lidar.
PPI scan between 45 and 90 degrees. Due to favourable weather conditions data up to a range of 12 km.