Passive Optical Remote Sensing of Wind Velocities and Turbulence by Spatiotemporal Analysis of Image Distortions of Random Scenes

该项目的目标是开发、应用和现场测试方法，以利用双筒望远镜的时空扭曲、自然照明的随机场景的光学图像序列来提取距离分辨的侧风速度和湍流统计数据。研究人员将使用随机的、具有丰富光学纹理的自然表面，如在美国西部随处可见的裸露的山面、山坡和峡谷壁。太阳和月亮将分别在白天和晚上充当光源。廉价、可扩展、多用途的大气边界层被动光学遥感技术和系统的可获得性将在几个领域造福社会，包括天气监测和预报；空气质量监测和预报；高速公路、机场跑道和火箭发射场的横风监测；以及支持风电场运营的风传感。该项目将为指导一名博士后研究人员和一名研究生提供资源，为科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育和教育者发展做出贡献。这项研究将使用两对同步图像序列，这些图像序列安装在两个横向间隔的大口径望远镜上，指向同一目标区域。目标距离将从数百米到数十公里不等。瑞利和非瑞利散射造成的能见度有限的影响在短距离内可以忽略不计，但在较长距离上预计会发挥重要作用。拟议的研究将结合观测、计算和理论方法，这些方法来自(1)大气湍流和边界层气象学；(2)波在大气湍流中的传播；(3)可见光的大气辐射传输；(4)相干和非相干光的成像物理。这项研究将整合、应用和检验传统上在不同科学和工程学科中分别处理的概念和假设。

The goal of the project is to develop, apply, and field-test methodologies to exploit spatiotemporal distortions of dual-telescope, optical image sequences of naturally illuminated, random scenes for the retrieval of range-resolved cross-wind velocities and turbulence statistics. The investigators will use random, natural surfaces with rich optical texture, such as bare mountain faces, hillsides, and canyon walls, which are ubiquitous in the American West. The sun and the moon will serve as light sources by day and by night, respectively. The availability of inexpensive, scalable, multi-purpose techniques and systems for passive optical remote sensing of the atmospheric boundary layer will benefit society in several areas, including weather monitoring and forecasting; air-quality monitoring and forecasting; cross-wind monitoring at highways, airport runways, and rocket launch sites; and wind sensing in support of wind-farm operations. The project will provide resources for mentoring a postdoctoral researcher and a graduate student, contributing to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and educator development.The study will use pairs of synchronized image sequences collected with two digital cameras mounted at two, laterally spaced, large-aperture telescopes pointing at the same target area. Target distances will range from hundreds of meters to tens of kilometers. Limited-visibility effects due to Rayleigh and non-Rayleigh scatter will be negligible for short ranges but are expected to play an important role for longer ranges. The proposed research will combine observational, computational, and theoretical methodologies from (1) atmospheric turbulence and boundary layer meteorology; (2) wave propagation through atmospheric turbulence; (3) atmospheric radiative transfer of visible light; and (4) imaging physics of coherent and incoherent light. The research will integrate, apply, and test concepts and hypotheses that are traditionally addressed separately in different science and engineering disciplines.