MRI: Development of a Mobile Fe-Resonance/Rayleigh/Mie Doppler Lidar

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The investigators will develop an advanced, mobile, iron-resonance/Rayleigh/Mie Doppler lidar system to vertically profile temperatures, winds, meteoric iron densities, clouds and aerosols throughout the stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The proposed lidar integrates the state-of-the-art technologies of lasers, laser spectroscopy, electro-optics, and sensors into a single system to produce a powerful and robust tool with unmatched measurement capabilities. The revolutionary lidar design and the readiness of alexandrite laser technology make the Fe Doppler lidar superb in the following ways: it will be able to obtain simultaneous measurements of temperature (30-110 km), wind (80-110 km), Fe density (75-115 km), and aerosol (10-100 km) in both day and night with high accuracy, high precision, and high spatial and temporal resolutions. The lidar is robust and compact for groundbased mobile deployment. It is containerized to move via a truck or ship to field locations of interest with extensive geographic coverage. Chirp-free and dither-free frequency locking and saturation-free Fe layer resonance results in a bias-free estimate of winds and temperatures, which is revolutionary for Doppler lidar. High energy and the UV wavelength employed by the lidar leads to a much more sensitive estimate of temperature and aerosol backscatter in stratosphere and mesosphere than determined through Na and K lidars. The 80-cm multi-telescope receiver, double-etalon filter for high rejection of solar background, and a state-of-the-art diagnostic system ensures accurate measurements in both day and night. The resulting breakthrough in lidar technology will push the atmospheric observations to a completely new level and the mobility of the system will enable new scientific endeavors. The lidar will become a community tool, available to all scientific users. Partnerships with private sector companies will result in new products with wide scientific use and commercial impact. Innovative technologies developed in this project will lead to new applications of advanced laser and remote sensing technology in the detection of biological and chemical agents, in nano-scale tube engineering, and in semi-conductor inspection. Exceptional opportunities for graduate and undergraduate education and training will arise from this project. A large number of scientists have strong interests in the instrument development, spin-off applications, and the data collected by this lidar. Many of these scientists will educate and train graduate and undergraduate students for whom this instrument and its data will be essential. Minority and under-represented students will be recruited through the Woman in Engineering Office (WIE) and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). This project will support the research of a female scientist (PI).