NOAA backscatter studies

In the past year, NOAA has measured and analyzed another year's worth of backscatter over Boulder, CO. The average profile was computed from 80 satellite observations of backscatter spread throughout the year, using NOAA's CO2 coherent lidar operating at a wavelength of 10.59 microns. The seasonal averages show a familiar trend (highest backscattering in spring, perhaps due to Asian dust or biomass burning, and lowest backscattering in fall). The 1990 average profile was not significantly different from the 1988 or 1989 profiles, except that it displays a slight increase in the upper troposphere, perhaps due to the Redoubt Volcano. The NOAA's backscatter processing program (BETA) was refined to enable the calculation of gaseous absorption effects based on rawinsonde measurements, as well as using atmospheric models. NOAA participated in two intercomparisons of aerosol measuring instruments near Boulder, called FRLAB (Front Range Lidar, Aircraft, and Balloon Experiment). Considerable effort was also put into developing a multiagency science proposal to NASA headquarters to work with both JPL and NASA-Marshall to produce an airborne Doppler lidar facility for the DC-8.