Lower And Upper Altitude Wind & Temperature Lidar System Based On Molecular-filter And Fe Boltzmann Distribution

Doppler lidar, as an active optical remote sensing equipment, can continuously measure the wind and temperature from ground to 120 km with real-time, high-sensitivity, and high spatial and temporal resolution. There are two parts in this dissertation: Mobile lower altitude Doppler wind and temperature lidar based on molecular filter and upper altitude Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar.According to the requirements of the mobile Doppler wind lidar, this dissertation adopts the modularization programming method to develop a user-friendly data acquisition and analysis software (DAAS). With its sophisticated and user-friendly DAAS this lidar has made a variety of line-of-sight (LOS) wind measurements in different operation modes. Through carefully developed data retrieval procedures, various wind products are provided by the lidar including wind profile, LOS wind velocities in Plan Position Indicator (PPI) and Range Height Indicator (RHI) modes, and sea surface wind.The precision and accuracy of wind measurements are estimated through analyzing the random errors associated with photon noise and the systematic errors introduced by the assumptions made in the data retrieval. The three assumptions of horizontal homogeneity of atmosphere, close-to-zero vertical wind, and uniform sensitivity are approximation of actual atmosphere in order to experimentally determine the zero wind ratio and the measurement sensitivity that are important factors in the LOS wind retrieval. Deviations may occur under certain meteorological conditions, leading to bias in these situations. Based on the error analyses and measurement results, we point out the application ranges of this Doppler lidar. Simultaneous measurement of wind and temperature from the lower to the upper atmosphere is very important for whole-atmosphere research. We proposed to incorporate a Na-DEMOF into the receiver of a three-frequency Na Doppler lidar to measure the wind and temperature from the troposphere to the stratosphere. In this dissertation we introduce the principal of Na-DEMOF, the architecture of the lidar and the data retrieval methods for wind and temperature measurement in aerosol free region. A user-friendly data acquisition program was developed.Aiming to study atmospheric gravity waves, thermal structure, chemistry and composition, Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar developed by Chu et al. at the University of Illinois was deployed to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole (90?S) in 1999-2001, and to Rothera Station, Antarctica in 2002-2005. Now it is being refurbished and upgraded to restore and enhance its specifications and we plan to deploy an Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar to McMurdo (78?S, 167?E), Antarctica to make year-round measurements of atmospheric temperature and mesospheric Fe density with full-diurnal coverage for 3 years starting from Nov. 2010. These include the refurbishment of two linear pulsed alexandrite lasers and two receiver channels. The original seed lasers were replaced with two new External Cavity Diode Lasers (ECDLs) from Toptica to improve the stability and spectral purity of the alexandrite lasers. The wavelength control of the seeder lasers are accomplished by a Bristol wavelength meter. Each seeder laser wavelength is sequentially monitored with a computer-controlled flip mirror and adjusted via a wavelength control program. Newly developed DAQ and seed laser locking program based on LabVIEW makes the temperature lidar much user friendly. This lidar can measure atmospheric temperature profiles (30-110 km) and mesospheric Fe layers (75-115 km) coverage for both day and night. Initial results from the Table Mountain Lidar Observatory in Boulder will be presented.