Wind fields and aerosol structures from the REAL at M²HATS

^(a) California State University Chico Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 400 West First St., Chico CA, 9592-0205, USA
^(b) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000, USA
^(c) Clemson University Department of Mechanical Engineering, Fluor Daniel Building, Clemson, SC, USA Lead Author e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 9 April 2026

Abstract

We deployed the Raman-shifted Eye-safe Aerosol Lidar (REAL) at the Multipoint MOST Horizontal Array Turbulence Study (M²HATS) in Tonopah, Nevada, from July through September of 2023. The REAL scanned horizontally over a linear array of 50 sonic anemometers at 4 m AGL and spaced 5 m apart. 60^o wide sector scans of elastic aerosol backscatter were collected every 17 s. The Typhoon wavelet-based motion estimation algorithm was applied to the images to derive vector flow fields. The observations will allow us to determine the filtering effect of this PIV-style wind measurement technique and contribute to testing the multipoint Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory.