Abstract

The GLObal Backscatter Experiment (GLOBE) flight survey missions were sponsored by the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) during 1989 and 1990, involving a series of flights over the Pacific Ocean. Lidar backscatter and aerosol microphysics measurements were made simultaneously. Among the complement of instruments on board the NASA DC-8 aircraft were two continuous wave (CW), focused, CO₂ Doppler lidars operating at 9.1μm and 10.6μm, and a thermally pre-conditioned Laser Optical Particle Counter (LOPC). Aerosol backscatter can be theoretically modeled from the measured aerosol microphysics data by using Mie theory (Mie, 1908). Comparison of this theoretical backscatter with direct lidar backscatter measurements will yield better aerosol models for various atmospheric conditions. Aerosol microphysics model can then be used to predict backscatter at other wavelengths for which lidar measurements are not currently available.

© 1991 Optical Society of America