Ozone Lidar Measurements in the Boundary Layer

The vertical profiling of boundary layer (BL) ozone is important for understanding the interaction between surface and upper air, and also their distinct diurnal variations. However, ozone lidar measurements in the BL have been a challenge, particularly near the ground, due to difficulties such as near-range detector saturation, overlap of receiver and laser beam, required large dynamic range due to strong light extinction, and heavy aerosol interference. At this conference, we present our recent developments in the lidar instrumentation, including both transmitter and receiver, for measuring ozone from near-ground (~100 m) to ~10 km. Coincident observation suggests Lidar retrievals agree with the ozonesonde-measured ozone within 10%. The ozone lidar retrievals from two independent receivers and three altitude channels are consistent when measuring ozone with large variations. The lidar validation using a tethered ozonesonde is an ongoing experiment for further investigation of the lidar measurement uncertainty. Lidar data access and its format will be given. The high-resolution ozone lidar data has important applications for improving air quality/photochemical models and evaluating satellite retrievals in the BL.