Lidar aerosol backscatter cross sections in the 2-{mu}m near-infrared wavelength region

Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · Applied Optics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.35.004812· OSTI ID:397389

Chudamani, S ^[1]; Spinhirne, J D ^[2]; Clarke, A D ^[3]

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1. Science Systems Applications, Inc., Lanham, Maryland 20706 (United States)
2. Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States)
3. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 (United States)

Lidar backscatter cross-sectional measurements at 1.064, 0.532, and 1.54 {mu}m were acquired during November 1989 and May{endash}June 1990 around the Pacific region by the NASA DC-8 aircraft as part of the Global Backscatter Experiment. The primary motivation for the Global Backscatter Experiment was the study of lidar backscatter cross sections for the development of a spaceborne wind-sensing lidar. Direct backscatter measurements obtained by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center visible and infrared lidar are compared with backscatter cross sections calculated from aerosol size distributions obtained by particle counters. Results for one flight with pronounced aerosol layers in the upper troposphere southeast of Japan are presented. Because 2-{mu}m region wavelengths are possible candidates for a spaceborne wind-sensing lidar, the visible and infrared lidar backscatter cross sections at 1.064, 0.532, and 1.54 {mu}m are extrapolated to the 2-{mu}m region. The extrapolated 2-{mu}m cross sections are compared with lidar measurements at 9 {mu}m. A significant range in the ratio of 2{endash}9-{mu}m backscatter cross sections is found, but a large number of points concentrate near ratios of three to ten. A large number of 1.064- and 1.54-{mu}m cross sections were binned to provide an estimate of backscatter for various percentiles for the flight. The ratio of the 50-percentile backscatter values at 1.064 and 1.54 {mu}m suggest a {lambda}{sup {minus}1.9} to {lambda}{sup {minus}3.0} wavelength dependence of aerosol backscatter cross section in the near infrared for the observational case. {copyright} {ital 1996 Optical Society of America.}

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 397389
• Journal Information: Applied Optics, Journal Name: Applied Optics Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 35; ISSN 0003-6935; ISSN APOPAI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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