Wyoming Cloud Lidar: instrument description and applications.
The Wyoming Cloud Lidar (WCL), a compact two-channel elastic lidar, was designed to obtain cloud measurements together with the Wyoming Cloud Radar (WCR) on the University of Wyoming King Air and the National Science Foundation/National Center of Atmospheric Research C-130 aircraft. The WCL has been deployed in four field projects under a variety of atmospheric and cloud conditions during the last two years. Throughout these campaigns, it has exhibited the needed reliability for turn-key operation from aircraft. We provide here an overview of the instrument and examples to illustrate the measurements capability of the WCL. Although the WCL as a standalone instrument can provide unique measurements for cloud and boundary layer aerosol studies, the synergy of WCL and WCR measurements coupled with in situ sampling from an aircraft provide a significant step forward in our ability to observe and understand cloud microphysical property evolution.
Wang
Zhien
Z
Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA. zwang@uwyo.edu
Wechsler
Perry
P
Kuestner
William
W
French
Jeffrey
J
Rodi
Alfred
A
Glover
Brent
B
Burkhart
Matthew
M
Lukens
Donal
D
D000401:Aircraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005544:Forecasting; D007834:Lasers; D008027:Light; D055904:Meteorology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011825:Radar; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*
D014867:Water