Development of a temperature and water vapor Raman lidar for turbulent observations

A new generation Raman LIDAR system is developed for high spatial (1.5 m) and temporal (1 s) resolution humidity and temperature measurements in the lower atmosphere. A multi-telescope array is used so that a near constant LIDAR signal is obtained from 10 m out to 500 m. The system is operated in the solar blind spectral region and corrected for ozone and aerosol influences. A prism polychromator system allows for the separation of the rotational-vibrational Raman bands of water vapor, nitrogen, and oxygen molecules with 'high spectral purity' with a throughput efficiency of greater than 90 %. This LIDAR system will ultimately be used to study the structure of the lower atmosphere over complex terrain and in particular advance our understanding of turbulent blending mechanisms in the unstable atmosphere.