Ground-based integrated path coherent differential absorption lidar measurement of CO₂: foothill target return

Abstract

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has made a great deal of effort to develop a coherent 2 μm differential absorption and wind lidar (Co2DiaWiL) for measuring CO2 and wind speed. First, coherent Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) lidar experiments were conducted using the Co2DiaWiL and a foothill target (tree and ground surface) located about 7.12 km south of NICT on 11, 27, and 28 December 2010. The detection sensitivity of a 2 μm IPDA lidar was examined in detail using the CO2 concentration measured by the foothill reflection. The precisions of CO2 measurements for the foothill target and 900, 4500 and 27 000 shot pairs were 6.5, 2.8, and 1.2%, respectively. The results indicated that a coherent IPDA lidar with a laser operating at a high pulse repetition frequency of a few tens of KHz is necessary for XCO2 (column-averaged dry air mixing ratio of CO2) measurement with a precision of 1–2 ppm in order to observe temporal and spatial variations in the CO2. Statistical comparisons indicated that, although a small amount of in situ data and the fact that they were not co-located with the foothill target made comparison difficult, the CO2 volume mixing ratio obtained by the Co2DiaWiL measurements for the foothill target and atmospheric returns was about −5 ppm lower than the 5 min running averages of the in situ sensor. Not only actual difference of sensing volume or the natural variability of CO2 but also the fluctuations of temperature could cause this difference. The statistical results indicated that there were no biases between the foothill target and atmospheric return measurements. The 2 μm coherent IPDA lidar can detect the CO2 volume mixing ratio change of 3% in the 5 min signal integration. In order to detect the position of the foothill target, to measure a range with a high SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), and to reduce uncertainty due to the presence of aerosols and clouds, it is important to make a precise range measurement with a Q-switched laser and a range-gated receiver.