Global Lidar Observations of Aerosol Distribution and Radiative Influence

A very visible impact of human activities is the brownish aerosol haze that pervades many industrialized regions as well as areas in the subtropics and tropics where biomass burning occurs. Well known examples are the Asian Brown Cloud, Arctic Haze and East Coast Haze. Atmospheric transport transforms this haze into regional and hemispheric aerosol layers of significant concentrations. The overall impact on the radiation balance of the atmosphere, surface solar irradiance and other meteorology factors is recognized as a major uncertainty for climate change. In order to understand the impact, the global distribution of aerosol and their properties must be known. . A missing element of observations, but critical for understanding transport has been the height distribution of aerosol. Lidar measurements of aerosol height distribution have been important in GLOBE, ACE, INDOEX and other field studies A network of continuously operating eye safe lidar ground sites has now been established for baseline aerosol profiling. In 2002 NASA will launch the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) mission which will provide for the first time global observations of the height distribution of aerosol. The combination of these and other modem satellite observations, field experiments and models of global aerosol composition and transport should begin to unravel the impacts of particles in the atmosphere.