3-c fiber laser based sensor for highly resolved wind vector measurements in distances up to 250 m

In the wind energy conventional Lidar (light detection and ranging) systems are used to determine a wind vector by tilting one laser beam into different directions. These systems are well established and provide reliable measurement results for flat terrain with almost homogeneous wind fields. But with increasing inhomogeneity wind vector measurements become problematical. The newly developed 3-c fiber laser based sensor allows wind vector measurements by determining the velocity vector of single aerosols in a highly resolved measurement volume in heights from 5 m to 250 m. By applying a powerful fiber laser, one transmitting beam and three receiving beams focussed into a well-defined measurement volume it is possible to perform measurements of the wind vector traceable to the SI units with a high local resolution of less than 1 dm3 and a resolution of 0.1 ms-1 for the wind speed. In contrast to conventional systems the newly developed sensor allows to measure wind vectors without any assumptions concerning the homogeneity of the wind field, so that environmental conditions have no influence on the measurement uncertainty and the traceability of wind vector measurements.