NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Intercomparison of Remote and Flight Level Measured Aerosol Backscatter Coefficient During GLOBE 2 Pacific Survey MissionAerosol backscatter coefficient data are examined from two local flights undertaken during NASA's GLObal Backscatter Experiment (GLOBE) in May - June, 1990. During each of these two flights the aircraft traversed different altitudes within a region of the atmosphere defined by the same set of latitude and longitude coordinates. This provides an ideal opportunity to allow flight level measured or modeled aerosol backscafter to be compared with pulsed lidar aerosol backscafter data that were obtained at these same altitudes either earlier or later than the flight level measurements. Aerosol backscafter comparisons were made at 1.06-, 9.11- and 9.25-mm wavelengths, using data from three lidar systems and two aerosol optical counters. The best agreement between all sensor's was found in the altitude region below 7 km where backscafter values were moderately high at all three wavelengths. Above this altitude the pulsed lidar backscafter data at 1.06- and 9.25-mm wavelengths were higher than the flight level data obtained from the CW lidar or derived from the optical counters. Possible reasons are offered to explain this discrepancy. During the Japan local flight, microphysics analysis revealed: (1) evidence of a strong advected seasalt aerosol plume from the marine boundary layer, and (2) where backscatter was low, the large lidar sampling volume included many large particles which were of different chemical composition to the small particle category sampled by the particle counters.
Document ID
19990066654
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Cutten, D. R.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Spinhime, J. D.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Menzies, R. T.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Bowdle, D. A.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Srivastava, V.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Pueschel, R. F.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Clarke, A. D.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Rothermel, J.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1998
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available