On the Possibility of Multichannel Optical Backscattering Sondes for Joint Balloon and Lidar Studies of the Aerosol Composition of the Middle Atmosphere

Abstract

In the practice of aerological sounding, along with lidar observations, aerosol backscattering sondes are used at night to study and monitor polar stratospheric clouds, tropospheric and stratospheric aerosol, cirrus clouds, pyroconvection, and volcanic aerosol, as well as to verify remote methods and means of ground-based and satellite-based aerosol observations. For aerosol sondes, a simple two-wave measurement technique is used, which makes it possible to diagnose changes in aerosol composition by color index. There are limitations to the possibilities of the two-wave technique, and they are discussed in this article. Aerological sounding combined with lidar observations expands the wavelength range for multiwavelength studies, and direct measurements of atmospheric temperature increase the accuracy of aerosol sensing. This paper considers the application of three or more wavelength techniques. Data from probe measurements using wavelengths of 470, 528, 850, and 940 nm and lidar sensing at wavelengths of 355 and 532 nm are presented.