Evaluation of atmospheric temperature measurement uncertainty of a Rayleigh scattering lidar by the GUM method

The atmospheric temperature measurement uncertainty was evaluated by the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) method. The lidar measurement model was introduced considering the design of actual lidar instruments and standard retrieval method. The detection noise and the auxiliary temperature uncertainty were considered as two main uncertainty sources. Based on the simulation data of Rayleigh scattering lidar operating at 532 nm with 2- hour integration period, it was calculated that two main uncertainty sources resulted temperature standard uncertainties of around 2 K and 5 K at 60 km, respectively, and the combined standard uncertainty was 6 K.