Abstract
A Raman lidar with a deep ultraviolet laser was constructed to continuously monitor water vapor distributions in the atmospheric boundary layer for twenty-four hours. We employ a laser at a wavelength of 266 nm and detects the light separated into an elastic backscatter signal and vibrational Raman signals of oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapor. The lidar was encased in a temperature-controlled and vibration-isolated compact container, resistant to a variety of environmental conditions. Water vapor profile observations were made for twelve months from November 24, 2017, to November 29, 2018. These observations were compared with collocated radiosonde measurements for daytime and nighttime conditions.
Highlights
Water vapor, one of the most variable atmospheric constituents, plays an important role in atmospheric processes such as the atmospheric energy budget and the global water cycle
The Raman lidar container was installed at the Shigaraki MU radar observatory (34°51’N, 136°06’E, 385 m a.s.l.) of the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH), Kyoto University, Japan, from November 24, 2017, to November 27, 2018
The trends shown by each observation agreed well up to about 1500 m, which is the top of the atmospheric boundary layer despite the low water vapor mixing ratio in winter
Summary
One of the most variable atmospheric constituents, plays an important role in atmospheric processes such as the atmospheric energy budget and the global water cycle. The distribution of water vapor is associated with that of clouds and rainfall through the vertical stability of the atmosphere caused by a large amount of latent heat related to the phase changes of water. Information on the spatiotemporal distribution of water vapor is highly beneficial for improving the accuracy of weather forecasts made by mesoscale numerical weather prediction models. The Raman lidar technique is a wellestablished tool for measuring the water vapor mixing ratio in the atmosphere[1]. While most of the Raman lidar previously used for the monitoring and field observation of water-vapor distribution employ a laser wavelength of 355 nm, Renaut et al (1980, 1988) and Lazzarotto et al (2001) demonstrated the Raman lidar with a 266 nm laser and a grating polychromator to conduct daytime observations during periods of high sky radiance[2,3]. We constructed a Raman lidar by employing a laser at a wavelength of 266 nm and an interference-filter-based polychromator
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