title: Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar: design, error analysis, and initial results at the north and south poles.
abstract: The design, development, and first measurements of a novel mesospheric temperature lidar are described. The lidar technique employs mesospheric Fe as a fluorescence tracer and relies on the temperature dependence of the population difference of two closely spaced Fe transitions. The principal advantage of this technique is that robust solid-state broadband laser source(s) can be used that enables the lidar to be deployed at remote locations and aboard research aircraft. We describe the system design and present a detailed analysis of the measurement errors. Correlative temperature observations, made with the Colorado State University Na lidar at Fort Collins, Colorado, are also discussed. Last, we present the initial range-resolved temperature measurements in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere over both the North and the South Poles obtained with this system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Xinzhao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Weilin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Papen
authors.forename: Chester S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Jerry A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gelbwachs