The Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences' (DAPS) 48-inch LIDAR system is providing measurements of tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols and of cirrus clouds. The ground-based system provided correlative measurements for the CALIPSO spacecraft aerosol soundings near Hampton, Virginia. Between 1974 and 2003, the NASA Langley Research Center (Hampton, VA) used the 48-inch LIDAR to obtain the longest record of atmospheric aerosol measurements. Earlier, a 0.6943-micrometer laser source was used to obtain aerosol measurements. Later, 0.532 and 1.064-micrometer laser sources were used. The Hampton University acquired the LIDAR in 2003. Recently, the LIDAR was upgraded to obtain Raman emission retrievals of nighttime tropospheric water vapor using two additional detectors at 0.4075 and 0.3867 micrometer. Preliminary water vapor measurements indicate that the LIDAR can provide useful emission measurements. Efforts are underway to add a third Raman detector at 0.355 micrometer. This paper will provide an overview of the LIDAR laser and detection systems, as well as provide examples of the 0.532 and 1.064 micrometer aerosol raw measurements and some preliminary results from aerosol soundings.