Sb. Alejandro et al., ATLANTIC ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL STUDIES .1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW AND AIRBORNE LIDAR, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES, 100(D1), 1995, pp. 1035-1041
During the period 1988-1990, studies of atmospheric aerosol have been
made over the Atlantic. These include measurement programs out of Asce
nsion Island (8 degrees S, 14 degrees W), the Azores (38 degrees N, 25
degrees W), Iceland (63 degrees N, 23 degrees W), and from the United
Kingdom over the Northeast Atlantic. For these studies the equipment
deployed included an airborne backscatter lidar (operating at 10.6 mu
m); airborne particle-sounding probes, ground-based lidars (operating
at 10.6, 0.53, and 0.35 mu m), balloon radiosondes, and a Sun-tracking
photometer. In addition, standard meteorological information has been
incorporated along with, when appropriate, data from the SAGE II limb
-sounding satellite. The present paper thus introduces an overview of
the program together with an outline of the technology, measurement ch
aracteristics, and performance of the airborne equipment that determin
ed the strategic planning of much of the work. The measurements themse
lves, made in the relatively clean period for the atmosphere before th
e Mount Pinatubo eruption, will be presented in a subsequent series of
papers.