Laser Radar Returns from the Lower Troposphere Compared with Vertical Ozone Distributions

摘要

Development of operational meteorological applications for laser radars has generally been handicapped by a lack of direct measurements of atmospheric conditions associated with back-scattering of laser pulses. In an attempt to provide an adequate description of the ambient atmospheric structure, operation of a Q-switched ruby laser has been coordinated with simultaneous and near-simultaneous observations from a variety of standard as well as nonconventional meteorological data systems. Significant similarities appear between aerosol-backscattered laser returns from the lower troposphere and vertical ozone profiles obtained by balloon-borne chemiluminescent ozonesondes. The ozone profiles aid interpretation of the laser returns and permit improved delineation of atmospheric strata, especially in smoggy air advected from the nearby Los Angeles Basin. (Author)