Raman lidar measurements of water vapor and aerosol/clouds during the FIRE/SPECTRE field campaign
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD (United States). Goddard Space Flight Center
- Universities Space Research Associates, Columbia, MD (United States)
- Hughes-STX, Lanham, MD (United States)
- Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (United States)
The FIRE/SPECTRE field campaign was conducted during November- December 1991 in Coffeyville, Kansas. The main objective of FIRE (First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment) was to study the development and radiative characteristics of cirrus clouds. The SPECTRE (Spectral Radiation Experiment) project was designed to acquire the necessary atmospheric observations to compare radiative measurements with radiative transfer theory, with special emphasis on understanding the water vapor spectral continuum. A complete understanding of water vapor, its distribution with height, and its temporal variation was important for both experiments. A ground-based Raman Lidar was deployed at Coffeyville, Kansas from November 12 until December 7, 1991. During the campaign, the lidar operated during 14 observation periods. The periods ranged in length from 3.5 hours to 12 hours for a total operating time of approximately 119 hours. During each of the operational periods the lidar obtained vertical profiles of water vapor mixing ratio and aerosol scattering ratio once every minute with vertical resolution of 75 meters from near the earth's surface to an altitude of 9--10 km for water vapor and higher for aerosols. Several balloon-sondes were launched during each operational period providing an independent measurement of humidity with altitude. For each operational period, the 1-minute profiles of water vapor mixing ratio and aerosol scattering ratio are composited to give a color- coded time-height display of water vapor and aerosol scattering, respectively.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DR00789
- OSTI ID:
- 7280086
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-92-8545C; CONF-9207107-1; ON: DE92016821
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 16. international laser radar conference, Cambridge, MA (United States), 20-24 Jul 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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