Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme

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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik

UP 15: Atmosphäre und Klima III

UP 15.2: Talk

Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 15:15–15:30, H48

Development of a Lidar System for Column Content Measurements of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide — •Axel Amediek, Andreas Fix, Martin Wirth, and Gerhard Ehret — DLR Oberpfaffenhofen, Institut fuer Physik der Atmosphaere, Wessling, Germany

The identification of carbon dioxide sources and sinks is one of the most important topics in atmospheric research to understand the global carbon cycle. The existing global network of CO2-measurement sites is based on about 100 stations monitoring local concentrations. This spatial resolution is not sufficient for a detailed identification of sources and sinks on a global scale. Laser remote sensing is a promising technique to close the gaps. However, this technology is not yet very well developed with regard to CO2 measurements. This can partly be related to very stringent requirements on measurement accuracy.

Against this background an experimental setup of a Lidar system (light detection and ranging) for column content measurements (also referred to as IPDA, "integrated path differential absorption lidar") of atmospheric carbon dioxide has been developed and demonstrated. The light source is based on an optical parametric oscillator system (OPO) at a wavelength of 1.57 micrometer. First measurements of the diurnal variation of atmospheric CO2 show good agreements with the results of an in-situ sensor. Numerical simulations and a detailed error analysis identify strengths and critical aspects of the method.