Introduction  This work aims to select the optimal wind-measurement instrument to satisfy observational requirements of Airborne Wind Energy System (AWES).

  Method  Observation campaign between wind lidar and wind profiler radar was carried out on an AWES demonstration project location. Data acquisition rate, vertical profile characteristics and temporal variation characteristics of both instruments were compared and analyzed.

  Result  The results show that the data acquisition rate of wind lidar decreases to less than 0.4 with altitude rising to 3 km, while the wind profiler radar can maintain above 0.98, revealing better observational adaptability. The vertical profiles of wind speed and direction, as well as the day-by-day and multi-day fluctuation characteristics are consistent in both instruments and can be verified by the reanalysis data and the contemporaneous radiosonde data of high-altitude meteorological stations. Statistical indicators like median, extreme deviation and standard deviation of the wind lidar observations are closer to and better correlated with the reanalysis data, while extreme deviation and standard deviation of the wind profiler radar observations are larger overall. Therefore, the wind-measurement accuracy of wind profiler radar is not as good as that of wind lidar.

  Conclusion  This work suggests that wind-measurement instrument should be reasonably selected and wind measurement schemes should be scientifically set up at different stages of AWES power plant project according to the climatic conditions of the project location.