Spectroscopic measurements of a CO2 absorption line in an open vertical path using an airborne lidar

We used an airborne pulsed integrated path differential absorption lidar to make spectroscopic measurements of the pressure-induced line broadening and line center shift of atmospheric carbon dioxide at the 1572.335 nm absorption line. We scanned the lidar wavelength over 13 GHz (110 pm) and measured the absorption lineshape at 30 discrete wavelengths in the vertical column between the aircraft and ground. A comparison of our measured absorption lineshape to calculations based on HIgh-resolution TRANsmission molecular absorption database shows excellent agreement with the peak optical depth accurate to within 0.3%. Additionally, we measure changes in the line center position to within 5.2MHz of calculations and the absorption linewidth to within 0.6% of calculations. These measurements highlight the high precision of our technique, which can be applied to suitable absorption lines of any atmospheric gas. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.