Development of a Carbon Dioxide Raman Lidar

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the most important greenhouse gases and therefore its detailed measurement is of high interest. As the concentration varies significantly with altitude and time, it is desirable to be able to measure vertical CO₂ profiles with high temporal resolution. Profiles of high resolution will improve our understanding of atmospheric systems and the impact of the local environment, e.g., due to natural and anthropogenic sources and sinks. The use of these data in data assimilation provides the potential of improving climate models.

For water vapor and temperature the Atmospheric Raman Temperature and Humidity Sounder (ARTHUS) system has proven to be able to provide profiles with high resolution (10-60 s in time and 7.5-100 m vertically) and accuracy in the lower troposphere. Now this successful system will be expanded with a CO₂ Raman channel, which is currently in development. After successful integration it will be possible to simultaneously measure CO₂, water vapor and temperature profiles. Challenges are the weak signal of the backscattered light due to the low concentration and the small Raman backscatter cross section of CO₂.

Further information on the CO₂ Raman lidar will be given at the conference.