Optical Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Properties
Document ID: 143
Philbrick, C. Russell
Lysak, Jr., Daniel B.
The Pennsylvania State University, Applied Research Laboratory and Department of Electrical Engineering, University Park, PA, U.S.A.
Presented: Battlespace Atmospheric and Cloud Impacts on Military Operations (BACIMO) Conference
Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 1-3 December 1998
Abstract
Techniques have been demonstrated which show the capabilities of lidar to measure the profiles of many meteorological and optical properties in the troposphere. The Lidar Atmospheric Profile Sounder (LAPS) instrument was prepared by the Applied Research Laboratory of Penn State University for the US Navy as an operational prototype that provides the profiles of water vapor and temperature as real time data products to support requirements for RF-refraction and meteorological data. The capability to measure the optical extinction at three wavelengths has been added to the instrument. The sounder was successfully demonstrated on the USNS SUMNER in Fall 1996 and has been used to gather data during several scientific research programs since that time. The data have provided an opportunity to investigate the variations of atmospheric properties with much finer resolution of the temporal variations than has been possible previously. Examples of some interesting variations in the properties of the lower atmosphere, including weather front passage and convective events, are used to show the importance of lidar measurements. The future directions for advancing our technical capabilities are apparent from the advances that have been made with the LAPS instrument. Future instruments will enhance the capabilities demonstrated here by further automation of lidar systems which use these Raman measurement techniques.