UV Raman Lidar measurements of atmospheric temperature/relative humidity during ihop: Measurements in presence of clouds

Rotational Raman Lidar measurements of atmospheric temperature in the UV region have been recently demonstrated by Di Girolamo et al. [1]. The exploitation of the RR technique in the UV has the potential to achieve high precision, even in daytime conditions due to reduced sky background [1]. Additionally, this spectral region presents a limited hazard for eye injury. In this presentation we illustrate some of the RR lidar measurements of atmospheric temperature performed by the NASA Scanning Raman Lidar in the context of the International H2O Project (May-June 2002), with particular emphasis to the measurements in presence of clouds. A specific case study (4 June 2002) is considered to assess RR lidar measurement capability in presence of mid-level/cirrus clouds. Examples are provided of relative humidity measurements inferred from simultaneous UV Raman lidar measurements of water vapour and temperature. These probably represent the first UV lidar based relative humidity measurements ever.