Determination of aerosol extinction coefficient profiles from elastic backscatter lidar at 1064 nm using the near-end solution. Uncertainties arising from estimation of the boundary condition

A near-end approach is used to determine the vertical profile of the particulate extinction coefficient with an elastic backscatter lidar operating at 1064 nm wavelength. The boundary condition is determined at the beginning of complete overlap r₀ using an extrapolation from the ground level extinction coefficient obtained using in-situ measurements. Two methods were employed to determine ground level extinction coefficient. An analysis of the relative error in the extinction profiles due to the uncertainties in the determination of the boundary condition is presented. The relative errors are computed considering the first method as true. Overall, the relative errors in ground level extinction coefficient range from 5.6% to 87.7% whereas the errors in optical depth range between 0.5% and 116.3%.