Abstract

In Fall 1989 and Spring 1990 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted a number of survey flights on the NASA DC-8 aircraft over the Pacific Basin as part of the GLObal Backscatter Experiment (GLOBE). The main objective of these flights was to collect data on tropospheric aerosol backscatter, either by direct measurement or modeled from measurements of selected aerosol microphysical properties that cover a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The primary intent of collecting these data is to predict the performance of space-borne lidar systems such as the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS). Other goals of the GLOBE missions were to characterize the source and properties of aerosols in the middle to upper troposphere over the remote ocean regions.

© 1993 Optical Society of America