Mini-differential absorption lidar for atmospheric water vapour profiling

Abstract

We report on progress towards developing a small Differential Absorption Lidar system for measuring the profile of water vapour concentration in the lower troposphere. Because of the extreme variability of water vapour concentration, there is a lack of data for meteorological modelling and quantitative precipitation forecasting. Our aim is to develop a sufficiently low cost system that measurements can be made routinely with with both greater temporal and spatial frequency than is presently the case. The compromises that are necessary to achieve a low-cost instrument will be discussed, and we will present our scheme for achieving accurate wavelength control of the two laser sources.