Abstract

This paper describes the first application of an airborne lidar to measurements of ozone and aerosol profiles in regional- and global-scale atmospheric investigations. In January 1980, an airborne differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system was developed at the NASA Langley Research Center for the remote profiling of O₃ and aerosols in the troposphere. The DIAL system made the first O₃ profile measurements from an aircraft platform in May 1980. In the summer of 1980, the airborne DIAL system was used during an EPA field experiment to study Persistent Elevated Pollution Episodes (PEPE) in the Eastern United States. Simultaneous O₃ and aerosol profiles were measured with the DIAL system on long-range flights during several PEPE episodes. A NASA-sponsored global tropospheric instrument test flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, was conducted on July 14-16, 1981. Data on CO, CH₄, NO, NO₂, O₃, T, and dew point temperature were collected by in situ sensors in altitude step increments along the flight path. The DIAL system provided remote measurements of O₃ and aerosol distributions below the aircraft. Recent flights have been made with the DIAL system operating in a zenith-viewing mode for measurements of O₃ and aerosols in the lower stratosphere.