Tropospheric water vapor and aerosol measurements obtained during LASE validation experiment
- and others
The Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) is a Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system flown on the NASA ER-2 aircraft to remotely measure distributions of tropospheric water vapor, aerosols, and clouds. LASE was developed at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to demonstrate autonomous operation of a DIAL system from a high-altitude aircraft as an important step towards developing a spaceborne DIAL system. LASE uses a double pulsed Ti:sapphire laser operating in the 815-nm absorption band of water vapor to generate the on- and off-line DIAL laser pulses. The system has two avalanche photodiode detectors and three signal digitizers to preserve the lidar backscatter signals over a large dynamic range. In September 1995, LASE completed a comprehensive validation program at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. The system was flown on the ER-2 during ten flights for a total of 60 hours. LASE measurements of tropospheric water vapor were compared with other remote and in situ measurements of water vapor from the ground and from aircraft which underflew the ER-2. Besides making intercomparisons with a number of water vapor sensors, this experiment incorporated a number of case studies related to atmospheric events including flights over and around Hurricane Luis over the Atlantic ocean, sea breeze development along the east coast of Virginia, and stratosphere-troposphere exchange. This paper presents data taken during this field experiment that demonstrate the accuracy of LASE for tropospheric water vapor measurements. The paper also discusses results from several of the atmospheric case studies conducted during this experiment and the potential future uses of LASE.
- OSTI ID:
- 379484
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960613--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Characterization of Upper-Troposphere Water Vapor Measurements during AFWEX Using LASE
Airborne Lidar measurements of aerosols, mixed layer heights, and ozone during the 1980 PEPE/NEROS summer field experiment