The development of a scanning raman water vapor lidar for boundary layer and tropospheric observations

A scanning, ultraviolet, Raman water vapor lidar designed primarily for bou ndary layer measurements has been built and operated by the Los Alamos Nati onal Laboratory Ground-Based Earth Observing Network team. The system provi des high temporal and spatial resolution measurements of the atmosphere wit hin and above the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Several examples of the types of data collected and the techniques for processing the data are pre sented. The typical horizontal range for the lidar is approximately 700 m w hen scanning, while the vertical range with photon counting can be up to 12 km with corresponding spatial resolutions of 1.5 m in the near field to 75 m in the far field. The uncertainty in the water vapor mixing ratio was fo und to be +/-0.34 g kg(-1). The development of the scanning Raman lidar is directed at questions about the behavior of the surface atmosphere interfac e. These questions address the nature of spatial variability and intermitte nt microscale convective transport in the ABL and lower troposphere.