Profiling atmospheric water vapor using a fiber laser lidar system.
A compact, lightweight, and efficient fiber laser lidar system has been developed to measure water vapor profiles in the lower atmosphere of Earth or Mars. The line narrowed laser consist of a Tm:germanate fiber pumped by two 792 nm diode arrays. The fiber laser transmits approximately 0.5 mJ Q- switched pulses at 5 Hz and can be tuned to water vapor lines near 1.94 microm with linewidth of approximately 20 pm. A lightweight lidar receiver telescope was constructed of carbon epoxy fiber with a 30 cm Fresnel lens and an advanced HgCdTe APD detector. This system has made preliminary atmospheric measurements.
De Young
Russell J
RJ
Sciece Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, MS401A, Hampton, Virginia 23681, USA. russell.j.deyoung@nasa.gov
Barnes
Norman P
NP