Victor R. Morris — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Connor J. Flynn — University of Oklahoma
Herb Winston — Vaisala, Inc.
Category
ARM Infrastructure
Description
Vaisala CL51 Laser Ceilometer
Improvements in the measurement of clouds and the ability to support cloud observation systems are critically important to understand and improve global climate model performance. The ARM Climate Research Facility uses Vaisala laser ceilometer model CL31 at all its sites to obtain measurements of cloud-base height, vertical visibility, and backscatter profile up to a maximum vertical range of 7.5 km. For a one week period in November 2013, during the Cirrus Clouds and Aerosol Properties Campaign, a Vaisala ceilometer model CL51 with a maximum vertical range of 13 km was deployed near the current ceilometer and Micropulse lidar at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in order to evaluate the potential of this new commercial system. The purpose of a deployment of the CL51 Ceilometer was to evaluate its high-range capabilities as a possible augmentation to data provided by the CL31. In addition to comparing and contrasting lidar vertical profiles and cloud detection, estimates of planetary boundary-layer height from the CL51 were compared to those obtained by the SGP’s balloon borne sounding system.
