Lidar measurements of refractive propagation effects

A multi-wavelength Raman lidar has been developed and used to measure the profiles of atmospheric properties in the troposphere under a wide range of geophysical conditions. The instrument measures the two physical properties which contribute to the refractive index at radio frequencies, water vapor concentration profiles from vibrational Raman measurements and neutral density determined from rotational Raman temperature profiles and surface pressure. The LAMP lidar instrument is transportable and has been used to make measurements at several locations in addition to our local Penn State University site, including shipboard measurements between Arctic and Antarctic and in the coastal environment at Point Mugu, CA. Lidar measurements of the atmospheric refractive environment, which are of particular interest, were made during 1993 at Point Mugu, CA, including the period of Project VOCAR (Variability of Coastal Atmospheric Refractivity). Both the lidar and balloon tropospheric measurements have been used for analyses of the propagation conditions by employing th Navy's RPO, IREPS and EREPS PC programs and comparisons have been made with the measured propagation conditions. On the short term (hour-to-hour throughout the day), the lidar derived profiles permit the examination of refractive layer stratification for guided-wave mode propagation.