TSI Integrating Nephelometers are designed specifically for studies of direct radiative forcing of the Earth’s climate by aerosol particles, or studies of ground-based or airborne atmospheric visual air quality in clean areas. They may also be used as an analytical detector for aerosol particles whenever the parameter of interest is the light-scattering coefficient of the particles after a pretreatment step, such as heating, humidification, or segregation by size. The light-scattering coefficient is a highly variable aerosol property. Integrating Nephelometers measure the angular integral of light scattering that yields the quantity called the aerosol scattering coefficient, which is used in the Beer-Lambert Law to calculate total light extinction.

The Differential Absorption Lidar uses the backscatter of two simultaneous laser wavelengths through zenith and nadir windows to measure the vertical profiles of H2O and aerosols/clouds.

NASA's Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) system is an airborne DIAL (Differential Absorption Lidar) system used to measure water vapor, aerosols, and clouds throughout the troposphere. LASE probes the atmosphere using lasers to transmit light in the 815-nm absorption band of water vapor. Pulses of laser light are fired vertically below the aircraft. A small fraction of the transmitted laser light is reflected from the atmosphere back to the aircraft and collected with a telescope receiver. The received light indicates the amount of water vapor along the path of the laser beam.

Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment (LARGE).  The "classic" suite of instrumenation measures in-situ aerosol micrphysical and optical properties. The package can be tailored for specific science objectives and to operate on a variety of aircraft. Depending on the aircraft, measurments are made from either a shrouded single-diffuser "Clarke" inlet, from a BMI (Brechtel Manufacturing Inc.) isokinetic inlet, or from a HIML inlet. Primary measurements include:

1.) total and non-volatile particle concentrations (3nm and 10nm nominal size cuts),
2.) dry size distributions from 3nm to 5µm diameter using a combination of mobilty-optical-aerodynamic sizing techniques,
3.) dry and humidified scattering coefficients (at 450, 550, and 700nm wavelength), and
4.) dry absorption coefficients (470, 532, and 670nm wavelength). 

LARGE derived products include particle size statistics (integrated number, surface area, and volume concentrations for ultrafine, accumulation, and coarse modes), dry and ambient aerosol extinction coefficients, single scattering albedo, angstrom exponent coefficients, and scattering hygroscopicity parameter f(RH).