IMPROVED STATROSPHERIC OZONE LIDAR

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's stratospheric ozone lidar has undergone several modifications and improvements since it participated in the Stratospheric Ozone Intercomparison (STOIC) campaign at Table Mountain, CA, in July 1989. Changes have been made in both the transmitter and receiver. The transmitter has been changed to include a XeF laser to generate the ''off-line'' wavelength; the detector has been changed to include mechanical choppers for each of the high-sensitivity channels, and the number of channels has been increased to six. In addition to the four elastic-scattering channels previously described, detectors at the N-2 Raman-scattered wavelengths for each of the transmitted wavelengths have also been added. The vertical resolution of the acquisition has been improved from 300 to 150 m, with the capability to record data with 75-m resolution. The Raman channels permit the measurement of ozone in air parcels with heavy loadings of aerosols, and give additional information about the aerosols themselves. Data from recent campaigns are presented to illustrate these points.