The Doppler lidar at Mace Head is a WindCube 200S (manufacturer Leosphere). It emits at 1.54 µm and measures the intensity of backscattered light as well as the Doppler shift of the detected radiation. From the deviation of the detected wavelength from the emitted one, profiles of the radial wind can be determined. Subsequently, the radial wind is converted into profiles of the three wind components.

The horizontal wind speed and the wind direction are derived using a least squares fit of the radial wind during full conical scans (VAD). The goodness of the fit is influenced by clouds and wind velocity. This may cause gaps in the plots, where quality screening removed invalid fit results.

The wind measurements depend on the presence of scatterers in form of cloud droplets or aerosol particles. The lidar therefore is also suited for the detection of aerosol layers, like volcanic ash plumes. The WindCube is a scanning lidar and therefore does not only produce one vertical profile, but can also be used to monitor the horizontal distribution of aerosols and clouds.

Low level jet (LLJ) detection by Tuononen, et al. (2017). LLJs are peaks in the profiles of horizontal wind speed retrieved from full conical scans (VAD) at 15 degrees elevation.

The pictures shown here are updated every hour. Data are not quality assured.