NONLINEAR-APPROXIMATION TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING VERTICAL OZONE-CONCENTRATION PROFILES WITH A DIFFERENTIAL-ABSORPTION LIDAR

摘要

A new technique is presented for the retrieval of ozone-concentration profiles (O-3) from backscattered signals obtained by a multiwavelength differential-absorption lidar (DIAL). The technique makes it possible to reduce erroneous local fluctuations induced in the ozone-concentration profiles by signal noise and other phenomena such as aerosol inhomogeneity. Before the O-3 profiles are derived, the dominant measurement errors are estimated and uncertainty boundaries for the measured profiles are established. The off- to on-line signal ratio is transformed into an intermediate function, and analytical approximations of the function are then determined. The separation of low- and high-frequency constituents of the measured ozone profile is made by the application of different approximation fits to appropriate intermediate functions. The low-frequency constituents are approximated with a low-order polynomial fit, whereas the high-frequency constituents are approximated with a trigonometric fit. The latter fit makes it possible to correct the measured O-3 profiles in zones of large ozone-concentration gradients where the low-order polynomial fit is found to be insufficient. Application of this technique to experimental data obtained in the lower troposphere shows that erroneous fluctuations induced in the ozone-concentration profile by signal noise and aerosol inhomogeneity undergo a significant reduction in comparison with the results from the conventional technique based on straightforward numerical differentiation. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America [References: 21]