Lidar Atmosphere Sensing Experiment

Status

Status
Retired
Operated By
PI

The Differential Absorption Lidar uses the backscatter of two simultaneous laser wavelengths through zenith and nadir windows to measure the vertical profiles of H2O and aerosols/clouds.

NASA's Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) system is an airborne DIAL (Differential Absorption Lidar) system used to measure water vapor, aerosols, and clouds throughout the troposphere. LASE probes the atmosphere using lasers to transmit light in the 815-nm absorption band of water vapor. Pulses of laser light are fired vertically below the aircraft. A small fraction of the transmitted laser light is reflected from the atmosphere back to the aircraft and collected with a telescope receiver. The received light indicates the amount of water vapor along the path of the laser beam.

Instrument Type
Measurements
Recent Missions
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
Point(s) of Contact
(Prev PI),
(Prev PI),
(POC; PI)
Range of Measurement
Vertical profile
Instrument Pointing
Zenith (directly upwards)Nadir (directly downwards)
Measurement Sampling Rate
5.00 Hz
Measurement Wavelengths
815 nm
Notes
Derived quantities: Relative humidity, precipitable water vapor profiles, aerosol backscatter, aerosol extinction, and aerosol optical thickness profiles (815 nm).
TRL
9