Abstract. The scanning differential absorption lidar (DIAL) of the University of Hohenheim (UHOH) determines fields of the atmospheric water vapor number density with a temporal resolution of a few seconds and spatial resolution of up to a few tens of meters. We present three case studies which show that this high resolution combined with 2- and 3-dimensional scans allows for new insights in the 3-dimensional structure of the water vapor field in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). In spring 2013, the UHOH DIAL was operated within the scope of the HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) in western Germany. HOPE was part of the project High Definition of Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction (HD(CP)2). Range-height indicator (RHI) scans of the UHOH DIAL show the water vapor heterogeneity within a range of a few kilometers and its impact on the formation of clouds at the ABL top. The uncertainty of the measured data was assessed by extending a technique, which was formerly applied to vertical time series, to scanning data. Typically, even during daytime, the accuracy of the DIAL measurements is between 0.5 and 0.8 g m−3 (or < 6 %) within the ABL, so that now the performance of an RHI scan from the surface to an elevation angle of 90 degrees becomes possible within 10 min. In summer 2014, the UHOH DIAL participated in the Surface-Atmosphere-Boundary-Layer-Exchange (SABLE) campaign in south-western Germany. Volume scans show the water vapor field in three dimensions. In this case, multiple humidity layers were present. Differences in their heights in different directions can be attributed to different surface elevation. With low elevation scans in the surface layer, the humidity profiles and gradients related to different land use and surface stabilities were also revealed.
Turbulent Humidity Fluctuations in the Convective Boundary Layer: Case Studies Using Water Vapour Differential Absorption Lidar Measurements
