The Dataset of the CeiLinEx 2015 Ceilometer Inter-comparison Experiment

This dataset provides the measurement records of the CeilinEx2015 Ceilometer Inter-comparison Experiment (url: http://ceilinex2015.de/) which was held in Deutscher Wetterdienst's Richard-Assmann Meteorological Observatory in Lindenberg, Germany between June 1st and September 15th 2015. Ceilometers are widely applied to determine cloud base heights, moreover they provide aerosol backscatter profiles up to 15km from the ground.
Six types of ceilometers were compared (Lufft CHM 15k Nimbus, Lufft CHX 15k Nimbus, Vaisala CL31, Vaisala CL51, Vaisala LD40, Campbell Scientific CS135), and each instrument type was represented by two ceilometers. The ceilometers were operated continouosly during the campaign. Firmware versions, and initial setups were altered for Vaisala CL31 and Vaisala CL51 instruments during the campaign in order to estimate . Message type and data pre-processing algorithm were changed once for the CS 135 instruments. Lufft and Vaisala LD40 instruments were operated with unchanged instrumental setups.
The Raman Aerosol Lidar PollyXT Hohenpeissenberg (RALPH) was additionally operating as reference.
Additionally to the normal atmospheric profiling measurements, special measurements were conducted:
(1) Measurements with horizontally tilted ceilometers.
(2) Measurements where the receiver telescope of the instruments were covered with a termination hut / disk.
(4) Telecover measurements.
Each file contains one day of measurements of one instrument. Special measurements and wrong data are flagged and stored separately.