Long-Term Evaluation of the Scintec Boundary-Layer Scintillometer and the Wageningen Large-Aperture Scintillometer: Implications for Scintillometer Users

摘要

We compare the structure parameter of the refractive index, , measured simultaneously with two large-aperture scintillometers: the WagLAS (Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands) and the BLS900 (Scintec, Rottenburg, Germany). A 3.5-year dataset shows a bias in of about 17 % between the instruments. Analysis of these data reveals firstly that the logarithmic amplifiers in the WagLAS exhibit a strong dependence on temperature, resulting in an overestimation of of up to 35 % for temperatures 0 . Secondly, high-pass filtering of the WagLAS and BLS900 intensity data artificially reduces for crosswinds 2 (error 25 and 5 % respectively). Thirdly, the BLS900 increasingly underestimates (up to 10-15 %) with increasing signal saturation. We demonstrate that Scintec's data processing relies too heavily on the assumption that the intensity data obey a log-normal distribution, which they do not in the case of saturation. Fourthly, both instruments ignore the dissipation range of the refractive-index spectrum, which leads to an overestimation of of up to 30 % for friction velocity 0.2 . Implications of these findings are discussed and placed into perspective for other scintillometer users. Furthermore, we present a tool for revealing saturation and other violations of Rytov theory for any given scintillometer type, including microwave scintillometers.