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Comparison of lower stratosphere wind observations from the USTC's Rayleigh Doppler lidar and the ESA's satellite mission Aeolus
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  • Chong Chen,
  • Xianghui Xue,
  • Dongsong Sun,
  • Ruocan Zhao,
  • Yuli Han,
  • Tingdi Chen,
  • Hengjia Liu,
  • Yiming Zhao
Chong Chen
University of Science and Technology of China
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Xianghui Xue
School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Dongsong Sun
University of Science and Technology of China
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Ruocan Zhao
University of Science and Technology of China
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Yuli Han
University of Science and Technology of China
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Tingdi Chen
School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China
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Hengjia Liu
University of Science and Technology of China
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Yiming Zhao
Beijing Research Institute of Telemetry
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Abstract

Since the first space-borne Doppler wind lidar, Aeolus, was launched, global wind field observations from space have been possible. Several ground- and air-based validations followed, although most of these comparisons remained below 10 km in the troposphere, with rare validation work for the stratosphere. The Rayleigh Doppler lidar developed by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) was deployed in Xinjiang, China in 2017. It can observe wind speed and temperature in the stratosphere and mesosphere. By setting two geographical ranges centered on the USTC lidar, the Aeolus Rayleigh winds within these ranges can be compared with ground-based lidar wind data. Furthermore, after eliminating the effect of particulate backscatter on the USTC lidar, the lower limit of the detection range was extended to 10 km to obtain more samples. The mean biases between the Aeolus winds and the USTC lidar winds were 1.05±5.98 (-0.35±4.78) m/s, 1.80±6.30 (-1.88±4.97) m/s, and 0.17±5.45 (0.51±4.44) m/s for all data, ascending orbits, and descending orbits, respectively, in a large (small) geographical range. The results for descending orbits have a higher degree of consistency with those for ascending orbits, and the farther the distance between Aeolus observation swaths and the USTC lidar, the greater the bias. Overall, the Aeolus winds are consistent with the USTC lidar winds in the stratosphere.