Abstract

A stratospheric measurement of the NO₂/NO ratio is important to our understanding of the photochemistry of the upper atmosphere. Lidar as a technique for making such measurements is particularly attractive for a number of reasons. In the case of balloon-borne experiments, data are taken some distance away from the contamination cloud of the balloon itself; altitude and horizontal profiles can be obtained; and since it is an active measurement and therefore not dependent on solar flux, nighttime measurements are also possible. Our laboratory has studied the quantitative fluorescence properties of NO₂ at several wavelengths and these data as well as the lidar simulations arising out of them will be presented.

© 1980 Optical Society of America