Combination of extinction profiles

Summary

We need a functionality that can combine extinction profiles corresponding to different processes that might have been produced with different algorithms and software tools. For example combine a cloud produced by DPPS by analysing LIDAR data with a Molecular Absorption Profile produced by MODTRAN. The combination of the profiles should be based on Beer-Lambert law.

What is the expected correct behavior?

The requested functionality has been developed and implemented in MDPS package (which is a CalibPipe dependency) as a member of the MolecularProfile class for reasons of uncertainty studies in molecular extinction. In principle it can be used here. However there are some caveats.

• being a MolecularProfile function: imo it should be moved in utilities. See
• Shall be part of MDPS? This functionality is not restricted in the combination of molecular extinction profiles, it combines any kind of extinction profiles.
• Having to combine extinction profiles produced via different tools, it might need to adjust the altitude binning. This is not straightforward. The only solution I can think of now is interpolation.

Finally, such functionality is necessary to CalibPipe. If we implement it now in DPPS release 0.4 or later on depends on what exactly we plan to do with FRAM data.