| This dissertation investigates the feasibility of a low-power, miniature LIDAR wind profiler (MLWP) which is designed to measure range-resolved wind velocities in the planetary boundary layer. Such an instrument is desirable for autonomous wind velocity measurements not only for remote locations on Earth, but potentially for the surface of Mars. Current state-of-the-art systems use either coherent detection or direct detection to measure the Doppler-shift of laser light which is backscattered from aerosols and molecular constituents in the atmosphere. Coherent-detection systems require extremely stable, narrow-linewidth (... |
