We developed an airborne compact rotational Raman lidar (CRL) for use on the University of Wyoming King Air (UWKA) aircraft to obtain two-dimensional (2D) temperature distributions. It obtained fine-scale 2D temperature distributions within 3 km below the aircraft for the first time during the PECAN (Plains Elevated Convection At Night) campaign in 2015. The CRL provided nighttime temperature measurements with a random error of <0.5 K within 800 m below aircraft at 45 m vertical and 1000 m horizontal resolution. The temperatures obtained by the CRL and a radiosonde agreed. Along with water vapor and aerosol measurements, the CRL provides critical parameters on the state of the lower atmosphere for a wide range of atmospheric research.