Almost all of the depolarization papers in the lidar literature employ a physically inappropriate notation and they use a definition of the depolarization ratio that is not linear in the quantity of interest. This depolarization lidar legacy is misleading and confusing. In particular, subscripts meaning parallel and perpendicular do not apply to atmospheric parameters, such as the volume backscatter coefficient, because (for linear polarization) the two components of the backscattered light are polarized in the transmitted sense and completely unpolarized; the unpolarized component is not "perpendicular." An analysis of lidar depolarization measurements with a particle scattering matrix recently provided in the literature yields algorithms for retrieving the depolarization parameter from either linear or circular depolarization lidar measurements. The analysis, notation, and definitions recommended here harmonize lidar depolarization analysis with radiative transfer theory, particle scattering theory, and standard polarization measurement techniques.

The Experimental Cloud Lidar Pilot Study (ECLIPS) was initiated to obtain statistics on cloud-base height, extinction, optical depth, cloud brokenness, and surface fluxes. Two observational phases have taken place, in October-December 1989 and April-July 1991, with intensive 30-day periods being selected within the two time intervals. Data are being archived at NASA Langley Research Center and, once there, are readily available to the international scientific community. This article describes the scale of the study in terms of its international involvement and in the range of data being recorded. Lidar observations of cloud height and backscatter coefficient have been taken from a number of ground-based stations spread around the globe. Solar shortwave and infrared longwave fluxes and infra-red beam radiance have been measured at the surface wherever possible. The observations have been tailored to occur around the overpass times of the NOAA weather satellites. This article describes in some detail the various retrieval methods used to obtain results on cloud-base height, extinction coefficient, and infrared emittance, paying particular attention to the uncertainties involved. The above methods are then illustrated by both model simulations and by selected results from various laboratories. The ECLIPS data are shown to represent a valuable resource for cloud parameter-izations in models and for model validations.

We have experimentally validated the concept of a differential image motion (DIM) lidar for measuring vertical profiles of the refractive-index structure characteristic C(n)(2) by building a hard-target analog of the DIM lidar and testing it against a conventional scintillometer on a 300-m horizontal path throughout a range of turbulent conditions. The test results supported the concept and confirmed that structure characteristic C(n)(2) can be accurately measured with this method.

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The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on the polar orbiter Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) is an elastic backscatter lidar that produces a global uniformly-calibrated aerosol data set. Several Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) studies for CALIOP conducted with ground-based lidars and CALIOP data showed large aerosol profile disagreements, both random and systematic. In an attempt to better understand these problems, we undertook a series of ground-based lidar measurements in Atlanta, Georgia, which did not provide better agreement with CALIOP data than the earlier efforts, but rather prompted us to investigate the statistical limitations of such comparisons. Meaningful Cal/Val requires intercomparison data sets with small enough uncertainties to provide a check on the maximum expected calibration error. For CALIOP total attenuated backscatter, reducing the noise to the required level requires averaging profiles along the ground track for distances of at least 1,500 km. Representative comparison profiles often cannot be acquired with ground-based lidars because spatial aerosol inhomogeneities introduce systematic error into the averages. These conclusions have implications for future satellite lidar Cal/Val efforts, because planned satellite lidars measuring aerosol backscatter, wind vector, and CO2 concentration profiles may all produce data requiring considerable along-track averaging for meaningful Cal/Val.

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Abstract. The expedited near-real-time Level 1.5 CloudAerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) version 3 products were evaluated against data from the groundbased European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EAR-LINET). The statistical framework and results of the threeyear evaluation of 48 CALIOP overpasses with ground tracks within a 100 km distance from operating EARLINET stations are presented and include analysis for the following CALIOP classifications of aerosol type: dust, polluted dust, clean marine, clean continental, polluted continental, mixed and/or smoke/biomass burning. For the complete data set comprising both the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and the free troposphere (FT) data, the correlation coefficient (R) was 0.86. When the analysis was conducted separately for the PBL and FT, the correlation coefficients were R = 0.6 and R = 0.85, respectively. From analysis of selected specific cases, it was initially thought that the presence of FT layers, with high attenuated backscatter, led to poor agreement of the PBL backscatter profiles between the CALIOP and EARLINET and prompted a further analysis to filter out such cases; however, removal of these layers did not improve the agreement as R reduced marginally from R = 0.86 to R = 0.84 for the combined PBL and FT analysis, increased marginally from R = 0.6 up to R = 0.65 for the PBL on its own, and decreased marginally from R = 0.85 to R = 0.79 for the FT analysis on its own. This suggests considerable variability, across the data set, in the spatial distribution of the aerosol over spatial scales of 100 km or less around some EARLINET stations rather than influence from elevated FT layers. For specific aerosol types, the correlation coefficient between CALIOP backscatter profiles and the EARLINET data ranged from R = 0.37 for polluted continental aerosol in the PBL to R = 0.57 for dust in the FT.

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