The measurement of tropospheric temperature profiles using Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering: results from laboratory and atmospheric studies

Kurzfassung

In this letter, we suggest a new method for measuring tropospheric temperature profiles using Rayleigh-Brillouin (RB) scattering. We report on laboratory RB scattering measurements in air, demonstrating that temperature can be retrieved from RB spectra with an absolute accuracy of better than 2 K. In addition, we show temperature profiles from 2 km to 15.3 km derived from RB spectra, measured with a high spectral resolution lidar during daytime. A comparison with radiosonde temperature measurements shows reasonable agreement. In cloud-free conditions, the temperature difference reaches up to 5 K within the boundary layer, and is smaller than 2.5 K above. The statistical error of the derived temperatures is between 0.15 K and 1.5 K.