Application and development of water vapor DIAL systems [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Klaus Ertel

Application and Development of Water VaporDIAL SystemsDissertationzur Erlangung des Doktorgradesder Naturwissenschaften im FachbereichGeowissenschaftender Universität Hamburgvorgelegt vonKlaus ErtelausBad Neustadt a. d. SaaleHamburg2004Als Dissertation angenommen vom Fachbereich Geowissenschaftender Universität Hamburgauf Grund der Gutachten von Dr. habil. Jens Bösenbergund Prof. Dr. Hartmut GraßlHamburg den 6. Januar 2004Prof. Dr. H. SchleicherDekandes Fachbereichs Geowissenschaften2AbstractRegarding weather and climate, water vapor is one of the most important atmospheric con stituents. A precise knowledge of its highly variable distribution is therefore crucial for manyapplications such as climate monitoring or weather prediction. Water vapor lidars are the onlyinstruments that can deliver continuous measurements of humidity profiles of high spatial andtemporal resolution. As opposed to the Raman method, differential absorption lidar (DIAL)offers the advantages of good daytime performance and self calibration.In the course of this work, measurements were collected with an existing alexandrite laserbased DIAL system during several field experiments. Among them was the Nauru99 campaignwhere a water vapor DIAL system was operated on board a ship for the first time. The datafrom the various campaigns yielded many interesting results, for example the confirmation ofthe development of an internal thermal boundary layer over the island of Nauru.