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Midlatitude lidar backscatter conversions based on balloonborne aerosol measurements
Author(s) -
Jäger Horst,
Deshler Terry,
Hofmann David J.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/95gl01521
Subject(s) - lidar , middle latitudes , aerosol , backscatter (email) , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , extinction (optical mineralogy) , wavelength , stratosphere , tropopause , volcano , southern hemisphere , remote sensing , geology , climatology , meteorology , geography , physics , optics , mineralogy , telecommunications , computer science , wireless , seismology
Aerosol size distributions derived from balloon‐borne particle counter data from Laramie, WY, are used to calculate ratios of extinction, mass, and surface area to lidar backscatter at the widely used lidar wavelength of 532 nm. The results cover the range of the stratospheric aerosol layer from the tropopause to 30 km. These ratios may be used to infer particle extinction, mass, and surface area from midlatitude lidar backscatter data for the period late 1979 to 1993. This period includes the major volcanic eruptions of El Chichón and Pinatubo. The wavelength dependence of aerosol backscatter in the visible was calculated for the period 1991 to 1993 to allow conversions of the results to other lidar wavelengths. The wavelength dependence is similar to estimates from southern hemisphere midlatitude measurements indicating that these conversions may also be applied to southern hemisphere midlatitude lidar measurements.