Observation and analysis of the temperature inversion layer by Raman lidar up to the lower stratosphere

Abstract

The vibration-rotational Raman lidar system built in Xi'an, China (34.233°N, 108.911°E) was used to simultaneously detect atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and aerosols under different weather conditions. Temperature measurement examples showed good agreement with radiosonde data in terms of the lapse rates and heights of the inversion layer under the lower stratosphere. The statistical temperature error due to the signal-to-noise ratio is less than 1 K up to a height of 15 km, and is estimated to be less than 3 K below a height of 22 km. High-quality temperature data were collected from 70 nighttime observations from October 2013 to May 2014, and were used to analyze the temperature inversion characteristics at Xi'an, which is a typical city in the northwest of China. The tropopause height over the Xi'an area was almost 17-18 km, and the inversion layer often formed above the cloud layer. In the winter at night, inversions within the boundary layer can easily form with a high occurrence of ∼60% based on 47 nights from 01 November 2013 to 21 January 2014. Continuous observation of atmospheric temperature, water vapor (relative humidity), and aerosols was carried out during one night, and the relevant changes were analyzed in the boundary layer via the joint observation of atmospheric visibility, PM2.5 and PM10 from a ground visibility meter and from a monitoring site, which revealed that the temperature inversion layer has a great influence on the formation of fog and haze during the winter night and early morning.

Investigation of Precipitable Water Vapor Obtained by Raman Lidar and Comprehensive Analyses with Meteorological Parameters in Xi’an

“…The high temporal resolution PWV data used in this study were obtained using the established ultraviolet Raman lidar system at the Xi'an University of Technology. The Raman lidar system has become a routine tool for simultaneously measuring the atmospheric temperature, water vapor, relative humidity and aerosol profile over Xi'an, China, since 2013 [12]. A schematic diagram of the Raman lidar system is presented in Figure 1.…”

“…With the development of laser technology and Raman spectroscopy, Raman lidars have been successfully used to measure atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and aerosols [11][12][13].…”

Laser radar: historical prospective—from the East to the West

“…The vibrational-rotational Raman laser radar was developed at Xi'an University of Technology. 93 A schematic diagram of the vibrational-rotational Raman laser radar is presented in Fig. 18.…”

“…96 The effective measurement for atmospheric water vapor can be achieved up to a height of 16 km. 97 Examples of extinction and temperature profiles are given in Fig. 18.…”

Investigation and Analysis of All-Day Atmospheric Water Vapor Content over Xi’an Using Raman Lidar and Sunphotometer Measurements

“…The potential of Raman lidars is not only to investigate synchronous multi-parameters profiles and the correlations among them, but also to study aerosol hygroscopic growth by combining water vapor and aerosols [17][18][19][20]. Many ground-based Raman lidar systems currently exist around the world, and significant achievements have been made in the measurement of water vapor and aerosol profiles [21][22][23][24]. At present, atmospheric water vapor mixing ratio profiles can be achieved up to the entire troposphere by Raman lidars.…”