Mesa Photonics and GW Laser Analytics received a $1.78M grant from the Department of Energy to build a Ground-based water vapor atmospheric vertical profiler.
Water vapor has a profound effect on weather and climate, is the dominant gas in atmospheric radiative transfer, and participates in multiple, interconnected feedback mechanisms. Therefore, detailed, precise data on temperature variations and H2O concentration profiles are needed for weather and climate forecasting. Mesa Photonics in collaboration with George Washington University propose development of ground-based instrumentation for (nearly) continuous measurements of water vapor concentrations and temperature within the troposphere. Column retrieval precisions of 0.5% or better are feasible. Data acquired will contribute to DoE's objective of measuring radiation, aerosols, clouds, precipitation, thermodynamics, and state variables.
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