Wind measurement accuracy of the NOAA pulsed infrared Doppler lidar

Wind fields measured with a pulsed infrared (CO2) Doppler lidar are compared with measurements by in situ anemometers, balloons, and radar. Radial winds were measured at slant ranges between 1.5 and 12 km during the various comparisons. The standard deviation of the differences between the lidar and the other measurement methods varied from 0.34 m sec−1 for sonic anemometer comparisons to 2.5 m sec−1 for balloon methods. Differences may be due to an inherent difficulty in comparing spatial and temporal averages of winds.