LASE AFWEX: Airborne Lidar Water Vapor and Aerosol Profiles

LASE_AFWEX data are Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment water vapor and aerosol data measurements taken during ARM-FIRE Water Vapor Experiment. The LASE ARM-FIRE Water Vapor Experiment (AFWEX) field experiment was conducted from November 27 - December 15, 2000 at the ARM Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) Site site in Lamont, Oklahoma. LASE airborne lidar produces measurements of aerosols and water vapor vertical profiles from the aircraft altitude (6-8 km) down to the surface.

Use Cases

• Validate water vapor measurement accuracy based on the AFWEX mission goal of characterizing instrument accuracy.
• Study atmospheric transport and air mass modification based on water vapor tracer data.
• Analyze atmospheric structure and latent heat flux based on simultaneous aerosol and cloud distribution measurements.
• Infer meteorological parameters from the vertical profiles of water vapor and aerosols.

Strengths

• Data was collected during a dedicated field experiment from November 27 - December 15, 2000.
• The main result of AFWEX demonstrated that a core group of 5 instruments was accurate at the 5% level for the profile of water vapor.
• Profiles cover altitudes from aircraft altitude (6-8 km) down to the surface.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Southern Great Plains site.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Airborne autonomous Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system measurements.

Time Range

November 27 - December 15, 2000

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 01:10:05.340468; freshness should be verified.

Geography

ARM Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) Site in Lamont, Oklahoma