NASA Langley Lidar Aerosol Profiles from 1974

Lidar measurements provide vertical profiles of upper tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols collected at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The dataset contains annual granules with four key parameters: stratospheric integrated backscatter, altitude levels, scattering ratio, and aerosol backscattering coefficient. Data collection began in May 1974 using a ground-based 48-inch ruby laser system with 150-meter vertical resolution.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in stratospheric aerosol backscattering coefficients at specific altitude levels.
• Studying the vertical structure and scattering ratio of middle-latitude aerosols for climate modeling.
• Validating satellite aerosol measurements using ground-based lidar profiles with 150-meter resolution.

Strengths

• Provides a long-term observational record starting in May 1974, enabling multi-decadal trend analysis.
• Offers high vertical resolution profiles (150 meters) of atmospheric aerosols from a calibrated ground-based instrument.
• Contains four specific, well-defined physical parameters per measurement (e.g., scattering ratio, backscattering coefficient).

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and exact column names are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting license information exists between platforms (NASA Earthdata shows null, while Data.gov lists 'other-license-specified').
• The most recent data update is unclear, with sources showing 2001 or a future date (2026).

Provenance

Source

NASA Langley Research Center, Aerosol Research Branch (ARB).

Collection Method

Ground-based lidar measurements using a 48-inch telescope and ruby laser system, with data processed by 12-bit CAMAC digitizers.

Time Range

1974-05 to at least 2001-12

Freshness

2001-12-04 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Hampton, Virginia, USA (NASA Langley Research Center).