Atmospheric Temperature Determination from High Resolution Laser Absorption Measurements

Remote measurements of atmospheric temperature have been demonstrated using a high resolution two-frequency laser technique. In addition, a new technique for measuring the temperature dependence of collision broadened line widths is described. Temperature is one of the most important atmospheric state variables needed for weather forecasting and modeling. Remote measurements of temperature with current satellite passive sensors is limited to accuracies of the order of 2.5K with vertical resolution on the order of 5-10 km. This limits the applicability of this data, particularly m the lower atmosphere. Simulations have shown that the use of high resolution pulsed lasers in a range resolved mode (LIDAR) could lead to significant improvements in both accuracy, 1K, and vertical resolution, 2 km, respectively.(1)