Altitude range resolution of differential absorption lidar ozone profiles

A method is described for the empirical determination of altitude range resolutions of ozone profiles obtained by differential absorption lidar (DIAL) analysis. The algorithm is independent of the implementation of the DIAL analysis, in particular of the type and order of the vertical smoothing Alter applied. An interpretation of three definitions of altitude range resolution is given on the basis of simulations carried out with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ozone DIAL analysis program, SO3ANL. These definitions yield altitude range resolutions that differ by as much as a factor of 2. It is shown that the altitude resolution calculated by SO3ANL, and reported with all Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lidar ozone profiles, corresponds closely to the full width at half-maximum of a retrieved ozone profile if an impulse function is used as the input ozone profile. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.