LiDAR wind profiler

Tender description

Met Éireann is the Irish National Meteorological Service and is part of the Government Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It is the leading provider of weather information and related services for Ireland. Valentia Observatory (Location: 51˚ 56' 24" N, 10˚ 14' 36" W) in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry is a unit of the Research, Environment & Applications Division of Met Éireann, and has responsibility for undertaking the monitoring of upper-air atmospheric conditions. This monitoring is currently conducted using helium filled balloons which carry the relevant upper-air instrumentation into the atmosphere. Met Éireann presently carry out two upper-air ascents per day at the Observatory. In the search for greater efficiency in its operations, Met Éireann proposes, in conjunction with further automation, to install a Doppler wind LIDAR to supplement analysis of the planetary boundary layer and to provide near real time wind profiles for the lower atmosphere. In addition to supplementing the wind profiling component of the Upper-air programme Met Éireann also requires that the tendered system can provide backscatter profile, cloud and aerosol detection, PBL height.