Abstract
A ground based Rayleigh lidar has provided continuous observations of tropospheric water vapor profiles and cirrus cloud using a preliminary Raman channels setup on an existing Rayleigh lidar above La Reunion over the period 2002-2005. With this instrument, we performed a first measurement campaign of 350 independent water vapor profiles. A statistical study of the distribution of water vapor profiles is presented and some investigations concerning the calibration are discussed. The data set having several long acquisition measurements during nighttime, an analysis of the diurnal cycle of water vapor has also been investigated. Analysis regarding the cirrus clouds is presented and a classification has been performed showing 3 distinct classes. Based on these results, the characteristics and the design of a future lidar system to be implemented at the new Reunion Island altitude observatory (2200 m) for long-term monitoring is presented and numerical simulations of system performance have been realized to compare both instruments.