Abstract
It has generally been assumed that differential absorption lidar (DIAL) systems are incapable of measuring atmospheric temperature with useful accuracy. This assumption is a direct result of errors that arise in standard DIAL retrievals due to differential Rayleigh-Doppler broadening from aerosols and molecules. We present here, a combined high spectral resolution (HSRL) and DIAL system that addresses this identified source of uncertainty by measuring quantitative aerosol parameters as well as oxygen absorption parameters. This system, in combination with a perturbative retrieval method, accounts for the Rayleigh-Doppler broadening effects on the oxygen absorption. We describe this combined DIAL/HSRL system and retrieval to evaluate the first retrieval parameters exploring the likelihood that it is possible to measure atmospheric temperature using a DIAL system.
Highlights
Measurements of thermodynamic variables, such as temperature and water vapor mixing-ratio, are critical to understanding and predicting the state of the atmosphere
We have demonstrated a differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system that uses the oxygen A-band and retrieves aerosol information from an integrated high spectral resolution (HSRL)
The measurement of temperature using DIAL relies on the availability of three high quality measurements: oxygen differential absorption, water vapor number density, and the backscatter ratio
Summary
Measurements of thermodynamic variables, such as temperature and water vapor mixing-ratio, are critical to understanding and predicting the state of the atmosphere. An ongoing collaboration between Montana State University (MSU) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has resulted in the advancement of diode-laser-based (DLB) lidar systems that are used to perform eye-safe, continuous, and unattended measurements of the atmosphere over the time period of several weeks to months [6,7,8,9]. This DLB architecture is adaptable to a number of relevant lidar system types. This system uses a potassium vapor cell with the D1 absorption line acting as a narrow band (aerosol blocking) filter. This presentation will describe the system and the initial measurement results and progress towards making an autonomous DLB system capable of measuring full atmospheric thermodynamic profiles
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