A Camera Lidar Network for Aerosol Profiling

Aerosols are suspended particulates in our atmosphere that can have a large impact on human health and are vital to climate studies. Mapping vertical aerosol variability over time is thus crucial. However, challenges can emerge from measurement methods such as conventional backscatter LiDAR. To address these challenges, a Camera LiDAR (CLiDAR) system was developed and optimized for low altitude studies. The system transmits a pulsed or continuous laser vertically into the atmosphere, detecting side-scattered laser light from each altitude simultaneously. A CCD camera with wide angle optics and laser line filter is placed some distance away from the laser transmitter. CLiDAR can measure aerosols to the ground without any overlap function, is portable and field ready, and is inexpensive to construct and operate. A joint effort between different institutions, Central Connecticut State University, University of Rhode Island, University of The Bahamas and NOAA affiliates, allows for better understanding of aerosols in clean and polluted environmental locations. This growing network improves aerosol transport studies and comparative atmospheric studies while removing financial barriers from institutions and undergraduate students from being involved in atmospheric lidar studies.