The Digital Press

The Barcelona Raman LIDAR (BRL) prototype demonstrates promising capability to monitor aerosol extinction profiles at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Northern site, even under challenging conditions like moonlit nights and dust presence.

Why it matters: Continuous aerosol monitoring improves atmospheric calibration for gamma-ray observations at the CTA Observatory.

The big picture: The pBRL prototype informs development of the final BRL, enhancing aerosol profiling accuracy and resolution over long distances.

Stunning stat: The pBRL achieves up to 35 km range and 50 m resolution for dust layers, and 500 m for optically thin clouds.

Quick takeaway: Despite non-optimal test conditions, pBRL's aerosol optical depth retrieval accuracy is around 0.05, supporting valuable atmospheric science.