LITE: Lidar Vertical Profiles from STS-64 Mission, 1994

September 9 to September 20, 1994 vertical profile data collected by the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment aboard the STS-64 mission. The dataset contains lidar measurements of clouds, aerosols, atmospheric temperature, density, and surface properties across three wavelengths. It was processed by NASA and includes geolocated profiles interpolated to a common altitude grid.

Use Cases

• Analyze aerosol distribution in the stratosphere and troposphere based on three-wavelength backscatter lidar data
• Study cloud properties and heights along the orbital flight path
• Retrieve atmospheric temperature and density profiles in the stratosphere between 25 km and 40 km altitude
• Explore surface property retrievals over land and ocean based on surface return strength measurements
• Investigate the height of the planetary boundary layer using lidar vertical profiles

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 11-day mission period from September 9 to September 20, 1994
• Profiles are interpolated to a geolocated altitude grid with 15-meter vertical resolution from -4.985 to 40.0 km
• Includes measurements across three distinct wavelengths (355 nm, 532 nm, and 1064 nm)

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Data contains gaps between 60 E and 85 E due to the zone of exclusion and random telemetry dropouts
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data transmitted real-time via Ku-band system through TDRSS downlink to the LITE operations center at JSC, then processed and reformatted.

Time Range

September 9 to September 20, 1994

Geography

Global coverage along the orbital flight path of STS-64, with gaps between 60 E and 85 E longitude.