| An examination into the use of the pure rotational Raman spectrum for lidar measurements of lower tropospheric thermal structure has been made. This technique was chosen because it showed potential for making measurements on short spacial and temporal scales. To determine if the rotational Raman technique may be extended down through the boundary layer, it was necessary to calculate the absolute intensities of water vapor's pure rotational Raman quantum lines, to establish design configurations for an ideal optical detector, to parameterize different analysis techniques for obtaining temperature versus lidar rotational ratio conversion curves, and to evaluate possible means of filtering lidar temperature data. Results showed that for an atmosphere containing 3% water vapor at 320 K, and a detector system using a 0.2 nm bandwidth filter, water vapor contributed less than 0.1% (... |
