THE NASA MICRO PULSE LIDAR NETWORK (MPLNET): EARLY RESULTS FROM DEVELOPMENT OF DIURNAL CLIMATOLOGIES

The NASA Micro Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) is a federated network of micro pulse lidar sites, mostly co-located with the NASA Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), providing information on the vertical properties of both aerosols and clouds. MPLNET began in 2000, and has grown to include ~80 sites worldwide. MPLNET data is collected continuously, offering the ability to examine diurnal changes in aerosol and cloud properties. To date, twelve sites have over 10 years of data and more will hit this milestone soon. Here we present early results from development of Level 3 monthly diurnal climatologies from MPLNET.