TOPAZ
Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone

The Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) is a lidar system designed by the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory. It was originally designed for airborne operations, but it has been reconfigured for deployment in a trailer for ground-based operations. It uses differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique to measure ozone concentrations and aerosol backscatter profiles up to 6 to 8 km above ground level (AGL). It operates in the 285 to 310 nm wavelength range and has an ozone profile vertical resolution of 5 m near the surface and 1000 m at 8 km AGL. TOPAZ is part of the NASA Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet).