There is a huge gap in the observation of temperature and moisture profiles in the lower troposphere, which is hindering progress in our understanding of Earth system processes and in weather forecasting. We demonstrate that the Purple Pulse Lidar System closes this gap by achieving a new dimension in accuracy, resolution, and range during day and night and even in clouds and rain. This unique performance opens a new era in applications such as climate monitoring, studies of turbulent transport, and data assimilation in weather forecast models, simultaneously. We will substantiate the value of these observations with brand-new studies which have already been documented in several publications.

• Advanced climate monitoring
• Studies of the convective boundary layer
• Development of new parameterizations
• Improvement of weather forecasts by data assimilation