Differential absorption lidar systems for tropospheric and stratospheric ozone measurements

A lidar facility has been established at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Table Mountain Facility located at an altitude of 2300 m in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. This facility is using the technique of differential absorption lidar to measure atmospheric ozone concentration profiles. Two separate systems are needed to obtain the profile from the ground up to an altitude of 45 to 50 km. An Nd:YAG-based system is described for measurements from the ground up to 15 to 20 km altitude, and an excimer-laser-based system for measurements from 15 km to 45 to 50 km altitude. The systems were designed to make high-precision, long-term measurements to aid in the detection of changes in the atmospheric ozone abundance through participation in the Network of Detection of Stratospheric Change.