Ground-based integrated path coherent differential absorption lidar measurement of CO₂: foothill target return

Abstract. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has made a great deal of effort to develop a coherent 2 μm differential absorption and wind lidar (Co2DiaWiL) for measuring CO₂ and wind speed. First, coherent Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) lidar experiments were conducted using the Co2DiaWiL and a foothill target (tree and ground surface) located about 7.12 km south of NICT on 11, 27, and 28 December 2010. The detection sensitivity of a 2 μm IPDA lidar was examined in detail using the CO₂ concentration measured by the foothill reflection. The precisions of CO₂ measurements for the foothill target and 900, 4500 and 27 000 shot pairs were 6.5, 2.8, and 1.2%, respectively. The results indicated that a coherent IPDA lidar with a laser operating at a high pulse repetition frequency of a few tens of KHz is necessary for XCO₂ (column-averaged dry air mixing ratio of CO₂) measurement with a precision of 1–2 ppm in order to observe temporal and spatial variations in the CO₂. Statistical comparisons indicated that, although a small amount of in situ data and the fact that they were not co-located with the foothill target made comparison difficult, the CO₂ volume mixing ratio obtained by the Co2DiaWiL measurements for the foothill target and atmospheric returns was about −5 ppm lower than the 5 min running averages of the in situ sensor. Not only actual difference of sensing volume or the natural variability of CO₂ but also the fluctuations of temperature could cause this difference. The statistical results indicated that there were no biases between the foothill target and atmospheric return measurements. The 2 μm coherent IPDA lidar can detect the CO₂ volume mixing ratio change of 3% in the 5 min signal integration. In order to detect the position of the foothill target, to measure a range with a high SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), and to reduce uncertainty due to the presence of aerosols and clouds, it is important to make a precise range measurement with a Q-switched laser and a range-gated receiver.