Measurement of wave slope asymmetry from a Multistatic Space Lidar Constellation: Theory and preliminary analysis of Wind direction Retrievals

• Published in: 2019 IEEE/OES Twelfth Current, Waves and Turbulence Measurement (CWTM)
• Main Authors: Josset, Damien, Hu, Yongxiang, Hovis, Floyd, Weimer, Carl, Hou, Weilin, Pelon, Jacques, Pascal, Nicolas, Michael, Chris
• Other Authors: Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center (NRL-SSC), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), NASA Langley Research Center Hampton (LaRC), Fibertek, Inc., Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), interaction Clouds Aerosols Radiations - ICARE/AERIS Data and Services Center - UMS 2877 (ICARE), Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: Lidar; wind vector; wave slope; wind direction; wind speed; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-02464683; https://doi.org/10.1109/CWTM43797.2019.8955257

International audience Recently, the National Ocean Partnership Program funded the phase A of a lidar cubesat mission: Rainbow. This mission aims to provide information about surface height, surface vector winds, sea-ice, coastal land surface and liquid water clouds. Depending on the final system characteristics, it could also contribute to our knowledge of coastal ocean turbidity and ecology. We propose here to focus on the wind vector retrieval. Wind is a major source of momentum to the upper ocean and modulates the coupling between the atmosphere and the ocean. In littoral areas, wind influences economic activities like ship navigation and fisheries. The Lidar can provide a retrieval of wind properties closer to the coastlines and at a finer scale than typical microwave systems. We will present the theoretical basis of how the lidar can retrieve the wind speed through the surface roughness measurement [1] and wind direction from the multistatic measurement of the wave slope asymmetry. It is well known that the upwind and crosswind components of the mean square slope are drastically different [2] and several lidar receivers looking at the laser light coming from different directions will be sensitive to this asymmetry. The CALIPSO lidar mission has conducted several large off-nadir angle maneuvers (10° to 30° off-nadir) that show this signature of wind direction but with a limited ability for retrieval because it's a single monostatic system. We will present a preliminary analysis of these data and an overview of the features of the Rainbow mission that will allow us to retrieve wind vector from a cubesat lidar constellation.