The design, development, and first measurements of a novel mesospheric temperature lidar are described. The lidar technique employs mesospheric Fe as a fluorescence tracer and relies on the temperature dependence of the population difference of two closely spaced Fe transitions. The principal advantage of this technique is that robust solid-state broadband laser source(s) can be used that enables the lidar to be deployed at remote locations and aboard research aircraft. We describe the system design and present a detailed analysis of the measurement errors. Correlative temperature observations, made with the Colorado State University Na lidar at Fort Collins, Colorado, are also discussed. Last, we present the initial range-resolved temperature measurements in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere over both the North and the South Poles obtained with this system.

No abstract

The fluorescence of aerosols in the ambient atmosphere has been monitored in situ using cw argon ion laser excitation in bands of 50 nm and 100 nm over the spectral region of 560-810 nm. The observed broadband aerosol fluorescence may limit lidar (laser radar) determinations of pollutants. The limitation can be overcome by a method in which the aerosol fluorescence excited at two wavelengths is constant while the molecular signals differ. The effectiveness of the technique has been demonstrated by in situ measurements of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) in the presence of aerosols.

Water continuum CO2 laser absorption spectra are reported for temperatures between 27 and -10 degrees C. The continuum is found to possess a negative temperature coefficient. The results obtained suggest that the magnitude of this temperature coefficient increases with increasing water pressure and decreasing temperature. The temperature coefficients between 27 and 10 degrees C for air mixtures containing 3.0- and 7.5-Torr water vapor are -2.0 +/- 0.4 and -2.9 +/- 0.5%/ degrees C, respectively. For mixtures with 3.0-Torr water the 10-0 degrees C temperature coefficient is -7.7 +/- 0.2%/degrees C. The temperature and water pressure dependencies observed for the continuum suggest that while both collisional broadening and water dimer mechanisms contribute to the continuum, the dimer mechanism is more important over this temperature range.

No abstract