Lidar Measurements of Atmospheric Transport Features at Mauna Loa Observatory

Lidar is an important tool for the detection of atmospheric aerosols which have significant effects on climate and on nutrient and sediment deposition.  Due to its mid-Pacific location, elevation, and relative isolation, Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) is ideally situated for the study of Trans-Pacific aerosol transport phenomena.  In this study, MLO's Bistatic CCD Camera Lidar, or CLidar was used to obtain extinction profiles which were then examined for characteristics suggestive of aerosol transport.  A 20-Watt, 532-nm Nd:YAG laser was vertically transmitted into the atmosphere above MLO. The side-scatter from atmospheric constituents, such as clouds, aerosols, and air molecules was detected by a wide-angle CCD camera situated 139-m from the laser. The obtained signal was range-normalized using a molecular scattering model and corrected for transmission with a column-averaged aerosol phase function derived from MLO-based AERONET photometer measurements. In several of the datasets, notable aerosol features indicative of particulate transport were observed.