Water vapor measurements throughout the planetary boundary layer (PBL) with the ATMONSYS DIAL: From short-term variability to the calculation of vertical fluxes

Key Points

• The aim is to measure water vapor and analyze vertical fluxes of latent heat in the planetary boundary layer using the ATMONSYS DIAL system.
• Measurement of water vapor using ATMONSYS DIAL
• Combined use of Doppler wind lidars to capture vertical fluxes
• Intercomparison of three humidity lidars and radiosondes
• Observed a ~20% short-term variability in humidity within the planetary boundary layer
• Demonstrated the capability of the ATMONSYS DIAL system to measure vertical fluxes
• Found that the drift of radiosondes can significantly impact humidity measurements and interpretations