MULTIWAVELENGTH PROFILES OF AEROSOL BACKSCATTER OVER LAUDER, NEW-ZEALAND, 24 NOVEMBER 1992

Simultaneous profiles of aerosol backscatter ratio were measured over Lauder, New Zealand (45-degrees-S, 170-degrees-E) on the night of Nove mber 24, 1992. Instrumentation comprised two complementary lidar syste ms and a backscattersonde, to give measurements at wavelengths 351, 49 0, 532 and 940 nm. The data from the lidars and the backscattersonde w ere self-consistent, enabling the wavelength dependence of aerosol bac kscatter to be determined as a function of altitude. This wavelength-d ependence is a useful parameter in radiative transfer calculations. In the stratosphere, the average wavelength exponent between 351 and 940 nm was -1.23 +/- 0.1, which was in good agreement with values derived from measured physical properties of aerosols.