title: Profiling atmospheric water vapor using a fiber laser lidar system.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Sciece Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, MS401A, Hampton, Virginia 23681, USA. russell.j.deyoung@nasa.gov
authors.forename: Russell J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: De Young
authors.forename: Norman P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Barnes