A Replacement Laser for the Arctic High Spectral Resolution Lidar

This award supports the purchase of a new laser to replace the current laser in the lidar at Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. The installation of the new laser will improve instrument reliability and data quality of an observing system that has been operating as part of the Arctic Observing Network since July 2005. The "Intellectual Merit" of this project is that the Eureka lidar data are providing much needed information on the occurrence and microphysics of arctic clouds and aerosols. Such data are needed to reduce uncertainty in computer model representation of clouds and to improve predictions of the rate of Arctic warming. The "Broader Impacts" of this project include the availability of the data via an innovative Web site (http://lidar.ssec.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/processeddata...) where customized data products can be ordered. In addition, 3-minute averages of backscatter cross-section and depolarization will be archived for the long-term at the Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service (CADIS). The lidar is co-located with a suite of other atmospheric sounding instruments that are contributing to IASOA (International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere). Continued acquisition of the lidar data will be a valuable contribution to the Observing Change component of SEARCH (Study of Arctic Environmental Change).