10-min Variations in PBL/FT Ozone from DIAL Measurement in Huntsville

The tropospheric ozone Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL), developed jointly by University of Alabama in Huntsville and NASA/GSFC, measures ozone profiles from 0.3 to ~8 km at 10-minute intervals with a vertical resolution less than 750 m. These time-series observations show a wide variety of evolving conditions including growing and diminishing, rising and sinking ozone layers that are sometimes associated with aerosol or water-vapor layers. Trajectory analyses indicate some cases of very sharp shear layers with very different sources and effects from widely disparate directions. Nighttime residual ozone layers and morning entrainment processes are also evident in these observations. This lidar characterizes the atmospheric variations of ozone and aerosol fields that must be observed by the GEO-CAPE instrument suite for air-quality science and forecasting.