LIDAR for the Determination of Antarctic Water Vapor Profiles.

A differential lidar technique has been demonstrated to be capable of determining water vapor profiles in the Antarctic atmosphere in the vicinity of clear air ice crystal precipitation events. A Candela flashlamp-pumped, tunable dye laser operating in the 930-nm spectral region has been proven to be an appropriate source for the system. Application of this system to the measurement of low concentrations of water vapor, such as those which would be observed during Antarctic precipitation events, was demonstrated in the laboratory.