Laser remote sensing technologies are valuable for a variety of scientific requirements. These measurement techniques
are involved in several earth science areas, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosols and clouds, wind speed and
directions, prediction of pollution, oceanic mixed layer depth, vegetation canopy height (biomass), ice sheet, surface
topography, and others. Much of these measurements have been performed from the ground to aircraft over the past
decades. To improve knowledge of these science areas with transport models (e.g. AGCM), further advances of vertical
profile are required.
JAXA collaborated with NICT and RIKEN started a new cross-sectional 3-year program to improve a technology
readiness of the critical 1-micron wavelengths from 2011. The efficient frequency conversions such as second and third
harmonic generation and optical parametric oscillation/generation are applied. A variety of elements are common issues
to lidar instruments, which includes heat rejection using high thermal conductivity materials, laser diode life time and
reliability, wavelength control, and suppression of contamination control. And the program has invested in several
critical areas including advanced laser transmitter technologies to enable science measurements and improvement of
knowledge for space-based laser diode arrays, Pockels cells, advanced nonlinear wavelength conversion technology for
space-based LIDIRs. Final goal is aim to realize 15 watt class Q-switched pulse laser over 3-year lifetime.
We have developing two types of 2micron conductive-cooled lasers for wind and CO2 measurements. One type of lasers is side pumped Tm,Ho:YLF laser operated at 20-40Hz. The laser rod is cooled down to -80C and laser diodes are
operated at normal temperature in a vacuum container. With this type of laser, we have built up a coherent lidar system
which is used to measure wind and CO2 concentration. Ho:YLF laser end-pumped by Tm:fiber laser is another type
oscillator which will be operated at high repetition rate of 200-300 Hz in normal temperature. The laser will have an
amplifier. These lasers are conductive-cooled, solid-state, eye-safe and suitable for space applications.
In the last decade the precision of coherent Doppler differential absorption lidar (DIAL) has been greatly improved in near and middle infra-red domains for measuring greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4 and winds. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, Japan) has developed and is operating a CO2 and wind measuring ground-based coherent DIAL at 2.05 μm (4878 cm-1). The application of this technology from space is now considered. In this analysis we study the use of the NICT DIAL for profiling tropospheric water vapour from space. We present the methodology to select the spectral lines and summarized the results of the selected lines between 4000 and 7000 cm-1. The choice of the frequency offset, the pulse energy and repetition frequency are discussed. Retrieval simulations from the line at 4580 cm-1 (2.18 μm) suitable for the boundary layer and the stronger one at 5621 cm-1 (1.78 μm) for sounding the boundary layer and the middle troposphere, are shown.
Dust profiles have been observed by a laser Ceilometer (MEISEI CT25K) at Shapatou, China which is located at the
edge of the Tengger Desert. The observation was conducted throughout one year of 2004 successfully and showed the
behaviors of the atmospheric dust profile from near the surface to about the 1000-m height. The results of the
observation were compared with several other meteorological data, such as surface, radio sonde and sky radiometer
measurements. In particular, the dust profiles observed on calm and fair weather days were analyzed and compared with
other meteorological data. The dust profile at the calm and fare weather day in the desert area is mainly influenced by
thermal convection due to strong surface heating in the warm season. The dust amount lower than the 500-m height
decreases in the daytime and recovers in the nighttime. The data of the sky radiometer shows that the total amount of the
dust at the same calm and fair-weather days is almost constant during the daytime. The observational evidence was
explained in the paper.
Lidar and Optical Particle Counter (OPC) measurements were performed in the Canadian Arctic and in the Indonesian Tropical region. The observations yielded very interesting and important results about the features of the latitudinal difference in the stratospheric aerosols. Besides the latitudinal difference, the aerosol distributions and their time variation showed unique characteristics in each of the regions. In Arctic winter, the aerosol concentration varies frequently day-today. In the Tropical region, the aerosol distribution and the vertical transport is, probably, controlled by the variation of the circulation pattern in the lower stratosphere related to the QBO in the tropical stratosphere. Based on the results of the simultaneous measurements by lidar and OPCs, we estimated surface area density, volume density, S-parameter (extinction to backscatter ratio), backscatter to surface area conversion factor, and backscatter to volume conversion factor of the stratospheric aerosols at 20km-altitude in the Arctic and Tropical regions.
Height profiles of temperatures and winds of the middle atmosphere between 30km to 60km are observable only by Rayleigh lidar and Rayleigh Doppler lidar except for rocket sounding which is expensive and not suitable for continuous measurements. We developed a Rayleigh lidar system and it is now working well for temperature observations of the Arctic middle atmosphere at Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska (65.1N, 147.5W). A comparison of lidar data and balloon sonde data showed good agreement in overlapped altitudes. A Rayleigh Doppler lidar for wind measurements of the middle atmosphere is under the phase of development. The expected accuracy in measurements of horizontal winds up to an altitude of 60km is smaller than 6m/s in 2hours observation. The system will be also operated at Poker Hat. The combination of these lidars and radars installed at Poker Flat give us chances of simultaneous observations of the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere in broad range of altitudes. Here, we give descriptions of the Rayleigh lidar and the Rayleigh Doppler lidar for the observations of the Arctic middle atmosphere at Poker Flat.
For the study of stratospheric aerosol over the Tropics, balloon-borne OPC measurements have been made six times from April 1997 to March 2000 at Bandung, Indonesia (6.9?S, 107.6?E) where Lidar measurements have also been made since early 1997. Correlative measurements of Lidar and OPC were conducted on March 25,1998 and August 23, 1999. Results of the latter measurement were compared in this paper. The profile of back scattering ratio measured by Lidar almost represents a vertical distribution of small particles having radii smaller than O.4?m. We calculated back scattering coefficients from the results of OPC measurement. The calculated and measured back scattering coefficients were not consistent completely but not so unreasonable.
The observation of atmosphere dust in China's desert show that there is a continuous dust layer always existed in lower atmosphere under the height of 5 km. The dust concentration in the layer is changed with altitude and season. According to the Lidar data analysis the backscattering ratio value changes in the range of 2.5-5.5 in clear weather. The higher value ofthe ratio can be extended to the height about the height of3.5 km. The dust concentration is reduced sharply over 3.5 km. In the range of 15-20 km height, an aerosol layer is often observed in Shapotou region. The maximum backscattering ratio usually appears in 1 5- 1 8 km. The value is approximately 1.2.
Variation of stratospheric aerosol affects atmospheric minor constituents and climate through changes in the radiation field as well as by dynamic and chemical processes. In order to estimate the impact quantitatively, it is very important to observe stratospheric aerosol vertical distribution and their lime variation To obtain stratospheric aerosol especially in equatorial region a lidar was installed in Bandung (6.9° S; 107.7° E) Indonesia under collaboration between National Institute of Aeronautic and Space (LAPAN), Communication Research Laboratory of Japan and Meteorological Research Institute of Japan. The Lidar transmitter system employ fundamental (1064 nm), second harmonic (532 nm) and third harmonic (355 am) wavelengths ofNd: YAG laser are transmitted. The second harmonic backscatter light and its N2 ranian backscatter light (607 am) are collected by a 28 cm and a 35 cm diameter telescope. In 35 cm telescope system, upper troposphere and stratosphere are observed by photon counting. 532 am light component polarized parallel and perpendicular to the laser light are separately observed to get information about shape of aerosol. Bandung is located at around 750 m above mean sea level and it is surrounded by mountains, therefore clouds are easily formed especially between 10 and 17 km height. Stratospheric aerosol over Bandung are spreaded between 18 and 35 km in altitude and form more than 1 sub layer, below 30 km and upper 30 km. The maximum aerosol concentration is obtained around 22.5 km height. To understand the seasonal variation of stratospheric aerosol we integrated the backscattering coefficients for altitude range 18-35 km and it was obtained that the stratospheric aerosol concentration in 1997 was higher than in 1999. The integrated backscattering coefficient in June was higher than in August. But seems the seasonal variation of integrated backscattering coefficient in Bandung does not so clear determined yet.
Tropospheric aerosols effects on climate in directly through various cloud formation, the lidar has been used to study the composition of many particles mixing in the atmosphere including to study the aerosol and cloud. Currently, it has many types of lidar systems depending on the purpose of measurements. In this report, the ground-based lidar system was established at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), THAILAND to study and measure the aerosol in boundary layer and cirrus clouds in the tropopause region. The aerosol measurement is in the form of scattering ratio whereas the signal depolarization has been applied to identify layers of cirrus clouds. The lidar system consists of laser source (Nd:YAG) with second harmonic wavelength, 28 cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, photomultiplier tube (PMT) and data acquisition system.
We are developing a new remote-operational lidar system, with multimedia technology. This system reduces the necessity to go to the remote place. The system is located in Rikubetsu (43.3N, 143.5E), in north portion of Japan, which is a famous place for a fair weather all the year round. We use SHG of Nd:YAG laser and receive P, S components of Mie back scatter with photon counter. All necessary controling of instruments such as the roof of the housing, tilt mirror, laser, photon counters, oscilloscope, and so on, are done by personal computers. Operator uses a web browser from a remote site to operate the lidar system, with monitoring the weather and the total state of the system. There is another workstation which runs a newly developed desktop video conference system. With these system, several persons can simultaneously observe and watch the data, discuss with each other. We can now observe the aerosols more frequently than ever. This will let us to get precise information about the aerosols in north regions of Japan.
In this paper, we report the preliminary studies of cloud microphysics by using ground-based 95GHz cloud radar and lidar systems. Although the active sensors are expected to increase our knowledge about clouds, e.g., vertical profiles of clouds, the single use of radar or lidar gives limited information and it is difficult to retrieve the ice water content (IWC and effective radius of cloud particles. We develop the new method for the combinational use of radar and lidar signals. The algorithm includes the attenuation corrections on both signals which is a long standing problems especially in the analysis of lidar signals. The system enables to retrieve the vertical profiles of effective radius and IWC in each cloud layer. Since both active sensors have dual polarization capabilities, the system provides a unique opportunity to study cloud microphysics form many aspects, e.g., vertical profiles of the relationship between effective radius, IWC and/or depolarization ratio. This system also has a great potential to study aerosol-cloud interaction studies.
We installed a lidar system for observations of the stratospheric aerosols at Bandung, Indonesia on November 1996. The system employed the second harmonic wavelength (532 nm) of Nd:YAG laser. We can measure scattering ratio and depolarization of 532 nm, and Raman scattering of N2 (607 nm). The system works well and the stratospheric aerosols were detected between 18 km and about 35 km. Cirrus clouds are always observed between 10 km and tropopause and area around tropopause is clear except for cloud-like structures. Integrated backscattering coefficient (IBC) of the stratospheric aerosols in 1997 is about 6 X 10-5sr-1 level and smaller than the value observed in mid-latitude, corresponding to the higher tropopause in the equatorial region. Variation of IBC at Bandung seems to be small. It is yet not clear whether current aerosol load is background level or not. We need more long period observations to discuss about seasonal, QBO, and long term variation of aerosol load.
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