Coherent lidar characterization of the boundary layer in estimation of urban-scale greenhouse gas emissions

The Indianapolis Flux Experiment (INFLUX) aims to incorporate aircraft measurements, surface-based in situ and remote observations, and chemical transport models to improve greenhouse gas emissions estimates on urban scales. During INFLUX we deployed a compact, continuously-operating coherent Doppler lidar to provide information on boundary layer winds, turbulence, and aerosol structure as input for the model and aircraft-based emissions calculations and for validation of model performance. The lidar performs a repeating sequence of scans and stares to estimate the wind, horizontal and vertical velocity variance, and backscatter gradient profiles. Using these observations, a robust algorithm has been developed to estimate boundary layer depth, a key parameter in the emissions calculations, under both daytime and nighttime conditions. The presentation will discuss lidar performance, scan strategies, development and performance of the boundary layer depth algorithm, meteorological conditions observed, and use of the data for both model-based and top-down aircraft-based emissions estimates.