Compact Raman Lidar (CRL)
Status
Mosaic radar reflectivity at 2.5 km MSL with segments of the UWKA flight track at (a) 0400, (b) 0538, (c) 0608, and (d) 0702 UTC 1 Jul 2015. (e) CRL WVMR, (f) CRL aerosol lidar scattering ratio (LSR), and (g) CRL temperature observed below flight level for the full flight (between 0423 and 0833 UTC). The black solid lines in the lower three panels separate the flight track segments shown in (b)–(d). The horizontal dashed and solid black lines in (e)–(g) represent inbound and outbound flight tracks, respectively.
CRL can provide simultaneous water vapor, temperature, aerosol, and cloud profiles within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) from UWKA, NSF/NCAR C-130, and NOAA P-3. It uses a compact, lightweight transmitting-receiving system (12-inch telescope). Although the 50-mJ CRL laser limits water vapor measurement to short-range under high solar background conditions, past CRL measurements demonstrated that CRL measurements offer excellent measurements to characterize PBL structures from airborne platforms. CRL enhances PBL observations at horizontal resolutions ranging from ~100 m to ~1 km and can revolutionize a range of atmospheric processes studies. These include: advancing our understanding of small-scale interactions between clouds and their environment, investigating air-sea and air-land interactions; documenting boundary layer structure over heterogeneous surfaces and under cloudy conditions; examining the mesoscale atmospheric environments and dynamics.