LASE Validation Experiment
An extensive validation experiment was conducted in September 1995 from Wallops Island, Virginia, to evaluate the performance of the LASE (Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment) system for the measurement of water vapor profiles under a wide range of atmospheric and solar background conditions. During this experiment, the LASE system was flown on a high-altitude (ER-2) aircraft on ten missions for a total of 60 hours. LASE measurements of tropospheric water vapor were compared with in situ measurements from balloons and aircraft that were flown under the ER-2 and with remote measurements from the ground and from aircraft. A high-altitude aircraft (Lear Jet) was equipped with two in situ hygrometers, and a medium to low altitude aircraft (C-130) had onboard the NASA Langley airborne water vapor DIAL system and two in situ hygrometers. Several radiosondes were launched during each LASE flight, and some of these sondes were part of a concurrent international radiosonde inter-comparison campaign sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization. The NASA Goddard Scanning Raman lidar also provided nighttime water vapor profile measurements from the ground. During this field experiment, LASE was also used in a number of atmospheric case studies including measurements of Hurricane Luis, a coastal sea breeze development, a strong cold front, an upper level front, and cirrus clouds.
Major LASE Validation Reference Listings
- Browell, E. V., and et al., First Lidar Measurements of Water Vapor and Aerosols from a High-Altitude Aircraft, OSA Optical Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere Technical Digest, Vol. 2, pp 212-214, (1995).
- LASE Validation Experiment and Atmospheric Case Studies, Browell, E.V., S. Ismail, et al., 18th Int. Laser Radar Conf., pp32, Berlin, Germany, July 1996.
- Browell, E.V., LASE Measurements of Tropospheric Water Vapor, Aerosols, and Cloud Distributions, OSA Optical Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere Technical Digest, Vol. 5, pp 2, (1997).
- Moore, A. S., and et al., Development of the Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE), an Advanced Airborne DIAL Instrument, Advances in Atmospheric Remote Sensing with Lidar, A. Ansmann and et al., Eds., Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 281-288, (1997).
- Browell, E. V., and et al., LASE Validation Experiment, Advances in Atmospheric Remote Sensing with Lidar, A. Ansmann and et al., Eds., Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 289-295, (1997).
- Brackett, V. G., and et al., LASE Validation Experiment: Preliminary Processing of Relative Humidity from LASE Derived Water Vapor in the Middle to Upper Troposphere, Proceedings from the 19th International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC19), Annapolis, MD. (1998).
- Ismail, S., and et al., LASE Measurements of Convective Boundary Layer Development during SGP97, Proceedings from the 19th International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC19), Annapolis, MD. (1998).
- Ferrare, R. A., and et al., LASE Measurements of Aerosols and Water Vapor during TARFOX, Proceedings from the 19th International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC19), Annapolis, MD. (1998).