Remote daytime measurements of tropospheric temperature profiles with a rotational Raman lidar

Abstract

Tropospheric temperature profiles have been measured at daytime with a rotational Raman lidar. The lidar operates in the solar-blind spectral region with KrF laser radiation that is Raman shifted in hydrogen to 276.787 nm. This wavelength corresponds to the resonance absorption of a thallium atomic-vapor f ilter that is used to suppress the large elastic-backscatter signal. The rotational Raman signal is analyzed with an echelle grating spectrometer that separates spectral regions with different temperature sensitivities in both the Stokes and the anti-Stokes Raman spectra. Simultaneously, profiles of water vapor and ozone can be determined by means of vibrational Raman backscattering.