Simultaneous measurements of water vapor and temperature with a scanning Raman lidar

A new generation high resolution scanning Raman lidar has been developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL) to measure at unprecedented resolution water vapor and temperature profiles simultaneously in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The lidar operates in the deep UV, avoiding solar background problems for daytime measurements. With a high energy and high repetition rate laser, a multi-faced telescope system and two unique polychromators, temperature and water vapor are measured in the ABL with almost constant signal to noise at 1.5 m and 1 second resolution, up to 500 m. System description details, calibration procedures and results are discussed in this presentation. First applications include high resolution observations of the diurnal cycle of the atmospheric boundary layer evolution near the earth's surface, including day and night time transitions, first scanning measurements over a grape canopy and comparisons with other instruments like sonic anemometer, licor and tethered balloon.