An information system for multi-instrument atmospheric laser radar studies

In this paper we describe an information system that we have designed for students and researchers to conduct atmospheric studies using data that they have collected from multiple atmospheric instruments including two laser radar (lidar) systems. The lidar systems available for research include a monostatic Micro Pulse Lidar System and a bistatic imaging CLidar system. Complementary instruments for data analysis and ground truth specification include a nephelometer, sunphotometers and a weather station. Information structures within the system allow users to 1) label, describe and archive raw and derived datasets from multiple atmospheric instruments with associated metadata using NetCDF format, 2) link together coincident and co-located datasets from different instruments and 3) identify owner and verify user access rights of raw and derived datasets. Data analysis software tools have been developed in MATLAB to characterize and remove instrument artifacts based on experimental lidar studies, to analyze clear sky data to determine variability in atmospheric aerosol content over time and altitude, and to investigate cloud and aerosol patterns.

Journal Abbreviation: WMSCI - World Multi-Conf. Syst., Cybern. Informatics, Proc.