Lidar Soundings Between 30 and 100 km Altitude During Day and Night for Observation of Temperatures, Gravity Waves and Tides

Abstract

Ground-based temperature measurements by lidar are an important tool for the understanding of long-term temperature changes as well as the propagation of gravity waves and tides. Though, mesospheric soundings are often limited to nighttime conditions due to the low signal-tonoise ratio during the day. We developed a daylight-capable RMR lidar for temperature soundings in the middle atmosphere. The influences of the narrowband detector on the calculated hydrostatic temperatures as well as their correction are described. The RMR lidar is complemented by a co-located resonance lidar. We present an example for tidal analyses and short-term variability of tidal amplitudes