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MPL

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mpl > Micropulse LidarInstrument Type(s) > Baseline • External • Guest

The micropulse lidar (MPL) is a ground-based, optical, remote-sensing system designed primarily to determine the altitude of clouds; however, it is also used for detection of atmospheric aerosols. The physical principle is the same as for radar. Pulses of energy are transmitted into the atmosphere; the energy scattered back to the transceiver is collected and measured as a time-resolved signal, thereby detecting clouds and aerosols in real time.

From the time delay between each outgoing pulse and the backscattered signal, the distance to the scatterer is inferred. Post-processing of the lidar return characterizes the extent and properties of aerosols or other particles in a region.

Measurements

Aerosol backscattered radiation Cloud base height Lidar polarization
Aerosol extinction Cloud fraction Radar polarization
Aerosol optical depth Cloud top height Radar reflectivity
Backscattered radiation Hydrometeor phase

Locations

  • Fixed
  • AMF1
  • AMF2
  • AMF3

Active Instrument Locations

Facility Name Instrument Start Date
Houston, TX; AMF1 (main site for TRACER) 2021-04-14
Central Facility, Lamont, OK 1996-03-12
Central Facility, Barrow AK 1998-05-21
Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal 2013-10-02
Oliktok Point, Alaska; AMF3 2015-08-01

2020

Achtert P, E O'Connor, I Brooks, G Sotiropoulou, M Shupe, B Pospichal, B Brooks, and M Tjernström. 2020. "Properties of Arctic liquid and mixed-phase clouds from shipborne Cloudnet observations during ACSE 2014." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 20(23), 10.5194/acp-20-14983-2020.

Flynn D, C Sivaraman, J Comstock, and D Zhang. 2020. Micropulse Lidar Cloud Mask (MPLCMASK) Value-Added Product for the Fast-Switching Polarized Micropulse Lidar Technical Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM/TR-098.

Mace G, A Protat, R Humphries, S Alexander, I McRobert, J Ward, P Selleck, M Keywood, and G McFarquhar. 2020. "Southern Ocean Cloud Properties Derived from CAPRICORN and MARCUS Data." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, , e2020JD033368, 10.1029/2020JD033368. ONLINE.

Khanal S, Z Wang, and J French. 2020. "Improving middle and high latitude cloud liquid water path measurements from MODIS." Atmospheric Research, 243, 10.1016/j.atmosres.2020.105033.

Mei F, D Dexheimer, J Fast, M Diao, B Geerts, A Bucholtz, L Riihimaki, C Flynn, T Thornberry, T Campos, S Springston, C Kuang, J Tomlinson, and B Schmid. 2020. ARM Aerial Instrument Workshop Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-20-010.

Romps DM and R Oktem. 2020. Measuring Clouds at the Southern Great Plains with Stereo Photogrammetry Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-20-011.

Oue M, A Tatarevic, P Kollias, D Wang, K Yu, and A Vogelmann. 2020. "The Cloud-resolving model Radar SIMulator (CR-SIM) Version 3.3: description and applications of a virtual observatory." Geoscientific Model Development, 13(4), 10.5194/gmd-13-1975-2020.
Research Highlight

Riley E, J Kleiss, L Riihimaki, C Long, L Berg, and E Kassianov. 2020. "Shallow cumuli cover and its uncertainties from ground-based lidar-radar data and sky images." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 13(4), 10.5194/amt-13-2099-2020.

Muradyan P and R Coulter. 2020. Micropulse Lidar (MPL) Instrument Handbook. Ed. by Robert Stafford, U.S. Department of Energy. DOE/SC-ARM/TR-019.

Su T, Z Li, C Li, J Li, W Han, C Shen, W Tan, J Wei, and J Guo. 2020. "The significant impact of aerosol vertical structure on lower atmosphere stability and its critical role in aerosol-planetary boundary layer (PBL) interactions." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 20(6), 10.5194/acp-20-3713-2020.
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