Airborne Differential Absorption and High Spectral Resolution Lidar Measurements for Cirrus Cloud Studies

Abstract

Aerosol and water vapor measurements were performed with the lidar system WALES of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) onboard the German research aircraft G550-HALO during the HALO Techno-Mission in October and November 2010 and during the ML-Cirrus mission in March and April 2014 over Central Europe and the North Atlantic region. Curtains composed of lidar profiles beneath the aircraft show the water vapor mixing ratio and the backscatter ratio. Temperature data from ECMWF model analysis are used to calculate the relative humidity above ice (RHi) in the 2-D field along the flight track to study the RHi distribution inside and outside of cirrus clouds at different stages of cloud evolution.