Comparison between Raman Backscatter and Elastic Side Scatter Methods for Measuring Aerosol Optical Depth

ORAL

Abstract

Raman backscatter LIDAR is the standard method in atmospheric physics for measuring atmospheric aerosol optical depth profiles. In contrast, high energy cosmic ray observatories, including HiRes and Pierre Auger, measure this parameter using elastic side scattering. We present a comparison between the techniques using 200 hours of data collected at the Pierre Auger Colorado R\&D site. Data was acquired by two detectors that measure scattered light from a 355nm pulse laser fired vertically into the atmosphere. A Raman backscatter detector was located at the base of the laser. A simplified florescence detector was located 40km from the laser. Alternate LIDAR signal processing methods will also be discussed.

–

Authors

  • Michael Coco

    Colorado School of Mines

  • Young-Yeal Song

    Brigham Young University, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Yale University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, JILA, NIST and University of Colorado, University of Arizona, MIT, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, University of New Mexico, Iowa State University, Los Alamos National Lab XCP-2, Utah State University, Weber State University, New Mexico State University, College of Optical Science, University of Arizona, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, J.A. Woollam Co., U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Arizona State University, BYU Nuclear Physics Group, Brigham Young University Physics and Astronomy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Tsukuba, Japan, Colorado State University, NSF ERC for EUV science and technology, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Utah Valley University, Argonne National Lab

  • Lawrence Wiencke

    Colorado School of Mines