early January, representatives from Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS), Vaisala, and the Omni Mount Washington Resort collaborated to install New Hampshire’s first ground-based scanning LiDAR. The Vaisala WindCube 200S Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR), located at Bretton Woods, kicks off a new era of high-resolution wind and boundary layer analysis across complex terrain.
“This piece of technology will dramatically enhance our scientific work, enabling us to map a 3D profile of the atmosphere,” Drew Bush, MWOBS Executive Director, said.
Adding to the comprehensive data collected by the Observatory’s Mountain Washington Regional Mesonet, a network of automated stations continuously collecting weather data, the scanning Doppler LiDAR will enable reliable monitoring of atmospheric parameters such as wind, turbulence, clouds, and aerosols from a unit situated at ~1,600 feet in elevation.
The boundary layer (PBL, Planetary Boundary Layer) is the lowest part of the atmosphere, directly influenced by the Earth’s surface, where winds, temperature, and turbulence respond to surface heating, cooling, friction, and terrain on timescales of minutes to hours.
“The scanner will allow MWOBS to essentially send a laser beam upward through the lower atmosphere, often several kilometers up under favorable conditions, so that we can build a three-dimensional picture of how winds move through and over the mountains, something we have not previously been able to capture with continuous, high-resolution observations,” Jay Broccolo, MWOBS Director of Weather Operations, said.
The device features a range of scanning patterns, angles, speeds, and modes, making 360-degree data available for almost nine miles—including over the summit of Mount Washington. The benefits of this data are far-reaching, from enhanced forecasts and safety for visitors, to scientific advancements to better understand one of the most unique environments on Earth. For example, the WindCube will make it possible for the Observatory and its research partners to study how the height of the boundary layer changes with different weather patterns, and what the wind field looks like before it interacts with the Presidential Range terrain.
The expansion is made possible by a Congressionally Directed Spending request by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, with generous installation support by Bretton Woods Ski Area/Omni Mount Washington Resort.
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