Abstract

This paper describes our research program on development of a Raman lidar system for measuring daytime profiles of atmospheric water vapor. The Raman lidar technique is a leading candidate for providing the high-resolution, day-night profiling of water vapor that is critical to programs in global climate change research. Because of the crucial role that water vapor plays directly in the earth’s radiation budget as an absorber, as well as its role in cloud formation and optical phenomenology, accurate, three-dimensional measurements of water-vapor concentration are an essential part of the experimental capability that is anticipated to be required for climate-change research.

© 1992 Optical Society of America