Ceilometer and Lidar Measurements of Atmospheric Trends, Coupling Between Atmospheric Layers, and Atmospheric Particulates

这项发现补助金中提出的调查将提高我们对地球气候四个关键组成部分趋势的理解：温度，水蒸气，臭氧和森林火灾烟雾颗粒等气溶胶。这些趋势将主要通过激光雷达（激光雷达）的测量进行评估，激光雷达可以从整个大气层的表面到110公里的高度测量这些量。可用于这些研究的测量数据包括位于西安大略大学附近的激光雷达、位于西校区的云高计（一种紧凑型自动激光雷达系统）、位于瑞士的水蒸气气溶胶和温度激光雷达RALMO以及位于尤里卡、努纳武特和法国上普罗旺斯天文台的DIAL臭氧和拉曼-瑞利激光雷达。这些激光雷达是大气气候变化探测网络（NDACC）的一部分。我的7名研究生组成的多元化小组从事大气激光雷达技术的各个方面的工作，从硬件设计到开发用于检索大气量的先进处理技术。这些技术可以应用于现有的以及新的测量，并将提供给科学界，特别是我们在NDACC的同事，NDACC是一个致力于研究低层和中层大气气候变化的国际大气传感器计划。我们还将研究平流层-对流层交换，即大气层下部（对流层）的空气被提升到平流层，在那里它可以被输送很远的距离，然后再下降到对流层。这类事件会导致中纬度受污染的空气混入尤里卡清洁的北极大气中。我还积极寻求使用低成本的云高计（自动激光雷达）进行测量，以提高我们对云、污染物、森林火灾烟雾和火山尘埃的了解。我们的云高仪是20个成员国国际合作的一部分，开发了一个校准云高仪和激光雷达的测量网络。灰尘和烟雾颗粒可以传播很远的距离，今年夏天，我们在安大略伦敦的仪器测量了阿尔伯塔和不列颠哥伦比亚省火灾产生的烟雾。我们的合作者的测量显示，其中一些烟雾最终被输送到欧洲。总之，我提出了一个计划，以提高我们对天气和气候的理解，使用高时空分辨率的激光雷达测量从表面到空间的边缘。除了科学研究外，这项研究还将用于提高我们对火灾烟雾和火山灰运输的认识，包括对可能影响健康（通过空气质量差的警告）和安全（通过可能影响飞机飞行走廊的漂浮颗粒物的警告）的情况进行实时测量/监测。

The investigations proposed in this Discovery Grant will improve our understanding of trends in four key components in Earth's climate: temperature, water vapour, ozone and aerosols such as forest fire smoke particles. The trends will be assessed from measurements primarily by lidars (laser radars), which can measure these quantities from the surface throughout the atmosphere to altitudes of 110km. Measurements available for these studies include those from a lidar located near The University of Western Ontario, a ceilometer (a compact, automated lidar system) located on the Western campus, a water-vapour aerosol and temperature lidar, RALMO, located in Switzerland, and DIAL ozone and Raman-Rayleigh lidars in Eureka, Nunavut and the Observatory of Haute Provence in France. These lidars are part of the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Climate Change (NDACC).My diverse group of 7 graduate students works in all facets of atmospheric lidar techniques, from hardware design to developing advanced processing techniques for the retrieval of atmospheric quantities. These techniques can be applied to existing as well as new measurements, and will be made available to the scientific community, in particular our colleagues in NDACC, an international program of atmospheric sensors dedicated to studying climate change in the lower and middle atmosphere. We will also study stratosphere-troposphere exchange, whereby air in the lower part of the atmosphere, the troposphere, is lifted into the stratosphere, where it can be transported great distances before descending back into the troposphere. Such events can cause polluted middle latitude air to be mixed into the clean Arctic atmosphere in Eureka.I am also actively pursuing the use of low-cost ceilometers (automated lidars) for measurements that will improve our understanding of clouds, pollutants, forest fire smoke, and volcanic dust. Our ceilometer is part of an international collaboration of 20 member nations developing a measurement network of calibrated ceilometers and lidars. Dust and smoke particles can travel a great distance, and this summer our instrument in London, Ontario measured smoke from fires in Alberta and British Columbia. Measurements by our collaborators showed some of this smoke was eventually transported as far as Europe. In summary, I propose a program to improve our understanding of weather and climate using high temporal-spatial resolution lidar measurements from the surface to the edge of space. In addition to scientific studies, the research will be applied to improving our understanding of fire smoke and volcanic ash transport, including real-time measurements/monitoring of situations which can affect health (via warnings of poor air quality) and safety (via warnings of lofted particulates which can affect aircraft flight corridors).