Until now, the MRI manages a network composed of 5 ceilometers-LIDAR-Automatic (ALC) allowing the monitoring of the height of the atmospheric boundary layer but also the detection of aerosol plumes. The first CLA was purchased in 2011 and is to be replaced. In order to improve the tracking of aerosol plumes, the MRI wants to use the depolarization technique to identify the type of aerosols as well as clouds of liquid water or ice.

The ALC will be installed outdoors in Uccle. The instrument must be weather resistant, operate year-round and be visually controlled remotely.

The objectives of MRI are:

‐measure the height of the cloud base.

‐determine the height of the mixing layer (an essential parameter in air quality forecasting) from the attenuated backscatter signal.

‐identify liquid and ice clouds and the nature of aerosol layers.

Delivery of an 'Automatic-LIDAR-Ceilometer' (ALC).