The application of a scanning, water Raman-lidar as a probe of the atmospheric boundary layer

A scanning water Raman-lidar, designed and constructed to study surface-atmosphere processes with high spatial and temporal resolution is described. It is shown that the lidar is able to measure the absolute water content and then calculate evaporative fluxes and other atmospheric parameters quickly over relatively large areas. This capability provides new opportunities for the study of microscale atmospheric processes. Examples of data and analyses are presented. An analysis is presented which determines the spatial and temporal resolution which is required of a remote sensor in the boundary layer