Water Vapor Measurements by Howard University Raman Lidar during the WAVES 2006 Campaign

Abstract Water vapor mixing ratio retrieval using the Howard University Raman lidar is presented with emphasis on three aspects: (i) comparison of the lidar with collocated radiosondes and Raman lidar, (ii) investigation of the relationship between atmospheric state variables and the relative performance of the lidar and sonde (in particular, their poor agreement), and (iii) comparison with satellite-based measurements. The measurements were acquired during the Water Vapor Validation Experiment Sondes/Satellites 2006 campaign. Ensemble averaging of water vapor mixing ratio data from 10 nighttime comparisons with Vaisala RS92 radiosondes shows, on average, an agreement within ±10%, up to ∼8 km. A similar analysis of lidar-to-lidar data of over 700 profiles revealed an agreement to within 20% over the first 7 km (10% below 4 km). A grid analysis, defined in the temperature–relative humidity space, was developed to characterize the lidar–radiosonde agreement and quantitatively localizes regions of strong and...