Abstract
The National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), a unit of Department of Space (DOS), located at Gadanki village (13.5°N, 79.2°E, 370 m AMSL) in India, is involved in the development of lidar remote sensing technologies for atmospheric research. Several advanced lidar technologies employing micropulse, polarization, Raman and scanning have been developed at this site and demonstrated for atmospheric studies during the period between 2008 and 2015. The technology of micropulse lidar, operates at 532 nm wavelength, was successfully transferred to an industry and the commercial version has been identified for Indian Lidar network (I-LINK) programme. Under this lidar network activity, several lidar units were installed at different locations in India to study tropospheric aerosols and clouds. The polarization sensitive lidar technology was realized using a set of mini photomultiplier tube (PMT) units and has the capability to operate during day and night without a pause. The lidar technology uses a compact flashlamp pumped Qswitched laser and employs biaxial configuration between the transmitter and receiver units. The lidar technology has been utilized for understanding the polarization characteristics of boundary layer aerosols during the mixed layer development. The demonstrated Raman lidar technology, uses the third harmonic wavelength of Nd:YAG laser, provides the altitude profiles of aerosol backscattering, extinction and water vapor covering the boundary layer range and allows operation during nocturnal periods. The Raman lidar derived height profiles of aerosol backscattering and extinction coefficient, lidar ratio, and watervapor mixing ratio inform the tropical boundary layer aerosol characteristics. The scanning lidar technology uses a near infrared laser wavelength for probing the lower atmosphere and has been utilized for high resolution cloud profiling during convective periods. The lidar technology is also used for rain rate measurement during small scale rain periods over the tropical station, Gadanki. This paper describes the lidar technologies developed and observations conducted using the technologies demonstrated.
