The spatial correlation analysis revisited

Abstract

The spatial correlation analysis (SCA) was originated by Briggs (1968). The SCA determines the atmospheric wind velocity by calculating the displacement of the ground diffraction pattern over a fixed time-interval. This displacement is obtained using the spatio-temporal correlation function of the ground diffraction pattern. The SCA requires a large array of receiving antennas, such as the Buckland Park (BP) MF radar, to allow the calculation of the spatio-temporal correlation function. A revised SCA capable of implementation using four antennas arranged in a square is presented. The revised SCA has been successfully applied to data recorded using the upgraded BP MF radar. The technique appears to avoid a number of biases inherent in applying the full correlation analysis (FCA), such as the "triangle size effect", in which the FCA velocity estimate increases with increasing antenna separation. ©1997 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.