Research Projects

In the SCOS97-NARSTO field study the NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA/ETL)'s ozone profiling atmospheric lidar (OPAL) was deployed in the Los Angeles urban area (El Monte Airport). During intensive operation periods (IOPs), OPAL operated continuously for more than 20 hours per day, providing vertical profiles of ozone and aerosol in an area important for understanding ozone evolution and transport, as well as for air quality model performance validation. In this four-month long field campaign, OPAL detected persistent ozone and aerosol layers aloft on most days during the IOPs. Very frequently, a lower layer of ozone and aerosol at 1,000-1,500 m (msl) and a higher layer of ozone and aerosol at 2,000-2,500 m (msl) were observed by the lidar. These layers existed simultaneously during a time period from the late afternoon till midnight, when they started to dissipate. Sometimes, they persisted through the night and could be seen in the early morning.