Research on Characterization of the Upper Atmosphere Using Lidar

Abstract

We describe our three year effort to characterize the upper atmosphere using sodium fluorescence and Rayleigh lidar techniques. We have made progress in the development of sodium fluorescence lidar. We have extended the range of the PL/GPIM fixed base and mobile lidar systems through development of combined analog/photon counting techniques, development of Raman lidar channels, improvement of background rejection and injection locking of transmitter lasers. We have investigated the applicability of lidar to measure changes in the density of excited nitrogen in the lower atmosphere. We have conducted research in Massachusetts, Alaska and Hawaii on high altitude density and temperature characteristics and on the aerosol layer produced by the Mt. Pinatubo volcano. We have improved the reliability, performance and overall productivity of the lidar systems.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 28, 1994
Accession Number
ADA283241

Entities

People

  • Michael Burka

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Amplifiers
  • Atmospheres
  • Data Acquisition
  • Dynamic Range
  • Fluorescence
  • High Altitude
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Nitrogen
  • Noctilucent Clouds
  • Productivity
  • Radiation
  • Rejection
  • Reliability
  • Scattering
  • Yag Lasers

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers