CLARA: RIVM contribution

The rivm cloud lidar was set up on the top floor of the building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Delft Universty of Technology. Here is the green laser beam emitted by the rivm cloud lidar as seen from street level.

Figure 2 shows the laserbeam leaving the exit window on the roof. The yellow lights in the background are from the highway The Hague - Rotterdam (looking in the South-Easterly direction).

A view of the rivm cloud lidar set up is shown in figure 3. To the left there is the laser head. In the middle there are two telescopes (the one close to the observer for detection of 532 nm, the other telescope for the detection of 1064 nm). The tube to the right is for guiding the laser beam to the exit window in the roof. Part of the detection electronics can be seen in the background.

Aims of RIVM with respect to the CLARA project

• Improvement of the interpretation of ozone profiles measured by the troposperic ozone lidar facility
• Study the role of clouds in vertical exchange mechanisms of chemical species
• Study the correlation between integrated UV-B irradiance and amount of cloudiness
• Obtain realistic cloud statistics for climate studies