Preface paper to the Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere (SALSA) Program special issue

The Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere Program (SALSA) is a multi-agency, multi-national research effort that seeks to evaluate the consequences of natural and human-induced environmental change in semi-arid regions. The ultimate goal of SALSA is to advance scientific understanding of the semi-arid portion of the hydrosphere–biosphere interface in order to provide reliable information for environmental decision making. SALSA approaches this goal through a program of long-term, integrated observations, process research, modeling, assessment, and information management that is sustained by cooperation among scientists and information users. In this preface to the SALSA special issue, general program background information and the critical nature of semi-arid regions is presented. A brief description of the Upper San Pedro River Basin, the initial location for focused SALSA research follows. Several overarching research objectives under which much of the interdisciplinary research contained in the special issue was undertaken are discussed. Principal methods, primary research sites and data collection used by numerous investigators during 1997–1999 are then presented. Scientists from about 20 US, five European (four French and one Dutch), and three Mexican agencies and institutions have collaborated closely to make the research leading to this special issue a reality. The SALSA Program has served as a model of interagency cooperation by breaking new ground in the approach to large scale interdisciplinary science with relatively limited resources

Atmospheric measurements using a scanning, solar-blind Raman Lidar

The study of the water cycle by Lidar has many applications. Because micro-scale structures can be identified by their water content, the technique offers new opportunities to visualize and study the phenomena. There are applications to many practical problems in agricultural and water management as well as at waste storage sites. Conventional point sensors are limited and are inappropriate for use in complex terrain or varied vegetation and cannot be extrapolated over even modest ranges. To this end, techniques must be developed to measure the variables associated with evapotranspirative processes over large areas and varied surface conditions. A scanning water-Raman Lidar is an ideal tool for this task in that it can measure the water vapor concentration rapidly with high spatial resolution without influencing the measurements by the presence of the sensor. 3 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

Remote detection of atmospherically dispersed vegetative cells using fluorescence LIDAR

A uv fluorescence LIDAR system is employed for the long range detectio of atmospherically dispersed biological particles (e.g. Bacillus thuringiensis) released from an aerosol generator. 1 ref., 2 figs