Development of An Atmospheric Extinction LIDAR for the CCD/Transit Instrument

AST-0421087--新墨西哥大学麦格劳将开发一种紧凑、坚固、人眼安全、低成本的激光雷达，专门用于在德克萨斯州西部麦克唐纳天文台的新墨西哥州天空勘测点测量大气消光，以支持电荷耦合器件/凌日仪器的科学计划。CTI的观测计划将在每晚大约1%的天空的多个光学和近红外频带中完成精确的时域成像光度测量。激光雷达数据将提供对大气消失量及其原因的实时测量，即自由对流层中的低空气溶胶、尘埃或烟雾，或高层卷云，从而实现更精确的光度测量。

AST-0421087 -- McGraw, University of New MexicoA compact, rugged, eye safe, low-cost lidar will be developed, specifically to measure atmospheric extinction at the New Mexico sky survey site at McDonald Observatory in West Texas to support the scientific programs of the CCD/Transit Instrument (CTI). The observing program of the CTI will accomplish a precise time-domain imaging photometric survey in multiple optical and near-infrared bandpasses of approximately 1% of the sky per night. The lidar data will enable more precise photometry by providing real-time measurements of the amount of atmopsheric extinction as well as its cause, i.e. low-lying aerosols, dust or smoke in the free troposphere, or high cirrus.