Abstract
The Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) is a unique network of lidar systems that measure high-resolution atmospheric profiles of ozone. The accurate characterization of these lidars is necessary to determine the uniformity of cross-instrument calibration. From July to August 2014, three lidars, the TROPospheric OZone (TROPOZ) lidar, the Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) lidar, and the Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL), of TOLNet participated in the "Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality" (DISCOVER-AQ)mission and the "Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment" (FRAPPÉ)to measure ozone variations from the boundary layer to the top of the troposphere. This study presents the analysis of the intercomparison between the TROPOZ, TOPAZ, and LMOL lidars, along with comparisons between the lidars and other in situ ozone instruments including ozonesondes and a P-3B airborne chemiluminescence sensor. In terms of the range-resolving capability, the TOLNet lidars measured vertical ozone structures with an accuracy generally better than ±15% within the troposphere. Larger differences occur at some individual altitudes in both the near-field and far-field range of the lidar systems, largely as expected. In terms of column average, the TOLNet lidars measured ozone with an accuracy better than ±5% for both the intercomparison between the lidars and between the lidars and other instruments. These results indicate very good measurement accuracy for these three TOLNet lidars, making them suitable for use in air quality, satellite validation, and ozone modeling efforts.
Highlights
The Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) provides time–height measurements of ozone from the planetary boundary layer (PBL) to the top of the troposphere at multiple locations for satellite validation, model evaluation, and scientific research (Newchurch et al, 2016; http://www-air. larc.nasa.gov/missions/TOLNet/)
TOLNet consists of five ozone lidars across the United States and one in Canada: the Table Mountain tropospheric ozone differential absorption lidar (DIAL) at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) lidar at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), the Rocket-city Ozone (O3) Quality Evaluation in the Troposphere (RO3QET) lidar at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the TROPospheric OZone (TROPOZ) DIAL at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Space Center (GSFC), the Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL) at NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC), and the Autonomous Mobile Ozone Lidar Instrument for Tropospheric Experiments (AMOLITE) at Environment and Climate Change Canada
A previous intercomparison between TROPOZ and LMOL reported by Sullivan et al (2015) concluded that the observed ozone column averages from the two lidars were within ±8 % of each other, and their ozone profiles were mostly within ±10 % of each other
Summary
The Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) provides time–height measurements of ozone from the planetary boundary layer (PBL) to the top of the troposphere at multiple locations for satellite validation, model evaluation, and scientific research (Newchurch et al, 2016; http://www-air. larc.nasa.gov/missions/TOLNet/). These ozone measurements can serve to validate NASA’s first Earth Ven-. All TOLNet lidars have unique configurations of original measurement design purposes, including their transmitter, receiver, and signal processing systems. Most components of these lidars are customized and differ significantly in pulse energy, repetition rate, receiver size, solar (or narrow-band) interference filter, and range resolution. These differences result in varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), which impact the useful operating ranges and statistical uncertainties in ozone retrieval. A previous intercomparison between TROPOZ and LMOL reported by Sullivan et al (2015) concluded that the observed ozone column averages from the two lidars were within ±8 % of each other, and their ozone profiles were mostly within ±10 % of each other
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