The MPI water vapor Differential Absorption Lidar is operating in the close infrared region (820nm) where appropriate water vapor absorption lines are located. Elastic backscatter at two wavelengths, one adjusted to the maximum absorption and another one to the wing of the absorption line, obtain the information on air humidity. Working with elastic scattering makes the technique nearly insensitive to the sky background and allows the daytime operation. The laser cavity design allows adjusting the sounding wavelengths to the different absorption lines, which are selected according to typical air humidity in the region of observations.

Attenuated backscatter is an additional product of the DIAL. Converted to the particle backscatter, it is used as an additional piece of information when estimating the aerosol types with the Raman lidar approach.

For more information contact Dr. Ilya Serikov or Bjorn Bruegman.