Four-year lidar observations of polar boundary layer wind profiles at Zhongshan Station, Antarctica

A compact all-fiber pulsed coherent Doppler lidar (PCDL) for boundary layer wind profiling was developed by the Institute of Oceanographic Instrumentation, Shandong Academy of Sciences. The system was deployed at Zhongshan Station, Antarctica (69.37°S, 76.37°E) by the 36th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) and commenced routine operation in January 2020. We present the long-term (4-year) continuous observation of Antarctic boundary-layer wind profiles using this independently developed PCDL, which was designed to operate reliably under polar conditions. We also describe the system design, configuration, wind retrieval methodology, and performance evaluation against synchronous radiosonde measurements. Two representative cases exhibit good agreement, with root mean square deviations of 0.36 m/s for wind speed and 5.1 deg for wind direction, and correlation coefficients (R) of 0.97 and 0.86, respectively. Using 4 years of high temporal and spatial resolution data (2020–2023), the seasonal variations of winds at different altitudes were analyzed. The maximum monthly mean wind speed below 500 m generally occurred at 100 to 200 m above ground, whereas the prevailing wind direction remained within the range of 60 to 120 deg year-round. A case study on July 6, 2022, revealed pronounced wintertime katabatic winds that were confined to 0 to 0.5 km, with speeds of 15 to 20 m/s and southeasterly flow (90 to 135 deg). Above 0.5 km, wind speeds decreased to below 10 m/s. We address the lack of continuous wind-profile measurements in polar regions and provide unique high-resolution data on katabatic wind dynamics and boundary-layer structure. It also verifies the capability of the PCDL system for long-term, high-resolution monitoring of Antarctic wind fields and offers valuable insights into the spatiotemporal variability of polar atmospheric dynamics.