Measurements of daytime and upper tropospheric water vapor profiles by Raman lidar

摘要

One of the most important atmospheric constituents needed for climate and meteorological studies is water vapor. Water vapor plays an important role in driving atmospheric circulations through latent heat release and in determining the earth's radiation budget, both through its radiative effects (water vapor is the major greenhouse gas) and cloud formation. The vertical distribution of water vapor is particularly important because it not only determines convective stability but radiative effects are also strongly altitude dependent. At present, considerable controversy exists over the nature of the vertical redistribution of water vapor in a changing climate, and particularly the distribution of water vapor in the upper troposphere. Understanding upper tropospheric moistening processes such as deep convection are therefore of prime importance in addressing the water vapor feedback question. A powerful, proven technique for the continuous measurement of nighttime water vapor profiles (in clear skies or up to the lowest cloud level) with high spatial and temporal resolution is Raman lidar. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, a high performance dual field-of-view (fov), narrowband Raman lidar system capable of both daytime and nighttime operation has been developed. In this paper, the Sandia Raman lidar system is discussed along with its application to two problems of current interest: daytime tropospheric water vapor profile measurements and upper tropospheric water vapor. We present recent measurements of upper tropospheric moisture made at the DOE Cloud and Radiation Testbed site (CART) in Oklahoma. Recent daytime measurements are also presented.