Use of Lidar in Support of Point Mugu Range Operations.
Abstract
An experimental and theoretical study was made of ways in which lidar observations could aid in such operational meteorological problems at the Pacific Missile Range as the measurement of slant visibility and the prediction of the formation of stratus cloud. Techniques are presented for measuring the height of the atmospheric inversion and predicting the levels at which the stratus clouds will form. On two different occasions, experiments were conducted that did provide advanced warning of the onset of stratus even before they were visible to the unaided eye. Experiments were conducted to verify techniques developed for measuring slant visibility by application of lidar backscatter data. In addition, limited experiments indicated that the crosspolarized component on signals backscattered from ice crystals is measurably stronger, compared to that in the plane transmitted, than is the case with spherical scatterers such as water droplets. Basic lidar return signals from the atmosphere of amplitude vs. range were transformed analytically to an expression called the Spatial Backscatter Function (SBF) which contains only the backscattering properties of the scattering volume centered at range R and the extinction properties of the atmosphere integrated over the path from the lidar to R. Specifications for advanced lidar systems and associated data processing units are given. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0923606
Entities
People
- F. G. Fernald
- J. Oblanas
- M. G. H. Ligda
- R. T. H. Collis
- Rosalind J Allen
Organizations
- SRI International