Assessment of Lockheed Martin's Aircraft Wake Vortex Circulation Estimation Algorithms Using Simulated Lidar Data

A new algorithm for estimating circulation strength of aircraft wake vortices is under development by Lockheed Martin and is being evaluated by NorthWest Research Associates, Inc. (NWRA) under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research Announcement (NASA-NRA) NextGen Airportal Program. The algorithm is being developed with the aid of Lockheed Martin’s Coherent Wind Lidar Simulator, developed under the same NASA-NRA program. A brief description of the simulator tool is presented. An overview of both the legacy estimation algorithm and the new algorithm under development is presented which highlights the differences between the two algorithms. The performance of both algorithms is assessed using simulated lidar data generated from analytic wake models and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) vortex wind fields with ambient turbulence eddy dissipation rates (EDR) of 4 x 10 -5 , 5 x 10 -4 and 1.45 x 10 -2 m 2 s -3 . Algorithm performance is quantified in terms of standard deviation and bias of estimates as a function of SNR.