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Utah State University

2011

Rayleigh lidar

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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Lidar User’S Manual, Lance William Peterson May 2011

Lidar User’S Manual, Lance William Peterson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This is intended to be a user’s manual for the upgraded USU Rayleigh lidar. As such, it begins with a discussion of the purpose of a lidar. This is followed by a brief explanation of the fundamentals of Rayleigh scatter lidar. Next the reasons for and benefits of upgrading the lidar are discussed and as well as how the upgrade was accomplished. After establishing this basis, instructions are provided for operating the lidar, performing basic maintenance, and aligning various components.


Early Observations Of The Middle Atmosphere Above Usu With The World’S Most Sensitive Lidar, Lance W. Petersen, Marcus J. Bingham, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron Apr 2011

Early Observations Of The Middle Atmosphere Above Usu With The World’S Most Sensitive Lidar, Lance W. Petersen, Marcus J. Bingham, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron

Posters

Extensive measurements have been made of the upper atmosphere by satellites and the lower atmosphere is measured twice daily by weather balloons. In contrast, the middle atmosphere is a difficult area to measure and therefore has been much less extensively studied. We are currently upgrading an old lidar system to a new system that will be 70 times more sensitive, making this the most sensitive lidar of its kind in the world. The upgrade consists of combining the outputs of 18 and 24 watt Nd:YAG lasers; implementing an optical chain to detect backscattered light using an existing large, four-mirror telescope; …