Aerosol retrieval from 1064 and 532/1064 nm LITE data

The Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) Shuttle mission demonstrated that spaceborne lidar offers an effective means for detecting the spatial features of significant regional aerosol concentrations resulting, for example, from Saharan dust, African and South American biomass burning, and anthropogenic sources. Quantitative retrievals of aerosol backscatter and extinction profiles have been obtained from the LITE data at 532 nm via calibration to upper atmosphere molecular backscatter and constraints supplied by modeling or auxiliary transmittance measurements. However, the weaker molecular backscatter level coupled with greater detector noise for the 1064-nm channel has prevented successful application of this same calibration and retrieval approach to the 1064-nm LITE data. The authors have now managed to achieve reasonable 1064-nm aerosol retrievals using a combination of methods including normalizing to lower altitudes, using calibrations based on surface returns, added signal conditioning, applying different solution forms of the lidar equation, and combining 532/1064-nm data subject to constraints set by modeling and two wavelength auxiliary transmittance data. This paper outlines these methods and presents examples of aerosol retrievals obtained from the LITE 1064-nm and 532/1064-nm data