Development and Application of a Compact, Tunable, Solid-State Airborne Ozone Lidar System for Boundary Layer Profiling

Abstract

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Earth System Research Laboratory/Chemical Sciences Division (NOAA/ESRL/CSD) has developed a versatile, airborne lidar system for measuring ozone and aerosols in the boundary layer and lower free troposphere. The Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and Ozone (TOPAZ) lidar was deployed aboard a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft during the Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS 2006) and the California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex 2010) field campaigns. TOPAZ is capable of measuring ozone concentrations in the lower troposphere with uncertainties of several parts per billion by volume at 90-m vertical and 600-m horizontal resolution from an aircraft flying at 60 m s−1. The system also provides uncalibrated aerosol backscatter profiles at 18-m vertical and 600-m horizontal resolution. TOPAZ incorporates state-of-the-art technologies, including a cerium-doped lithium calcium aluminum fluoride (Ce:LiCAF) laser, to make it compact and lightweight with low power consumption. The tunable, three-wavelength UV laser source makes it possible to optimize the wavelengths for differing atmospheric conditions, reduce the interference from other atmospheric constituents, and implement advanced analysis techniques. This paper describes the TOPAZ lidar, its components and performance during testing and field operation, and the data analysis procedure, including a discussion of error sources. The performance characteristics are illustrated through a comparison between TOPAZ and an ozonesonde launched during the TexAQS 2006 field campaign. A more comprehensive set of comparisons with in situ measurements during TexAQS 2006 and an assessment of the TOPAZ accuracy and precision are presented in a companion paper.

Improvement of vertical velocity statistics measured by a Doppler lidar through comparison with sonic anemometer observations

“…Behrendt et al, 2015), ozone from a DIAL (e.g. Machol et al, 2009;Alvarez II et al, 2011), velocity from Doppler lidars (e.g. Grund et al, 2001), and it was also extended to correct eddy-covariance flux measurements of trace gases (e.g.…”

Optimization of the GSFC TROPOZ DIAL retrieval using synthetic lidar returns and ozonesondes – Part 1: Algorithm validation

“…In May 2014, an intercomparison between the TROPOZ and the Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL, Pliutau and De Young, 2013) was performed in which no biases were apparent as compared to ozonesonde profiles when retrievals were performed with adequate signal (Sullivan et al, 2015). Additionally, the TROPOZ and NOAA TOPAZ (Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone lidar, Alvarez et al, 2011) were operated simultaneously for several days in July 2014, and a detailed intercomparison is currently being performed.…”

A mobile differential absorption lidar to measure sub-hourly fluctuation of tropospheric ozone profiles in the Baltimore–Washington, D.C. region

“…Similar ground-based instruments have been developed within TOLNet (McDermid et al, 2002;Alvarez et al, 2011;Kuang et al, 2013), but the GSFC TROPOZ DIAL is the first to measure ozone profiles in the mid-Atlantic region. Aside from the site at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Table Mountain Facility (JPL's TMF), this is the only instrument within TOLNet currently utilizing high-pressure stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) cells for wavelength generation (Haner and McDermid, 1990).…”