Evaluation of an airborne triple-pulsed 2 μm IPDA lidar for simultaneous and independent atmospheric water vapor and carbon dioxide measurements

Tamer F. Refaat, Upendra N. Singh, Jirong Yu, Mulugeta Petros, Syed Ismail, Michael J. Kavaya, Kenneth J. Davis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

90 Scopus citations

Abstract

Water vapor and carbon dioxide are the most dominant greenhouse gases directly contributing to the Earth's radiation budget and global warming. A performance evaluation of an airborne triple-pulsed integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar system for simultaneous and independent monitoring of atmospheric water vapor and carbon dioxide column amounts is presented. This system leverages a state-of-the-art Ho:Tm:YLF triple-pulse laser transmitter operating at 2.05 μm wavelength. The transmitter provides wavelength tuning and locking capabilities for each pulse. The IPDA lidar system leverages a low risk and technologically mature receiver system based on InGaAs pin detectors. Measurement methodology and wavelength setting are discussed. The IPDA lidar return signals and error budget are analyzed for airborne operation on-board the NASA B-200. Results indicate that the IPDA lidar system is capable of measuring water vapor and carbon dioxide differential optical depth with 0.5% and 0.2% accuracy, respectively, from an altitude of 8 km to the surface and with 10 s averaging. Provided availability of meteorological data, in terms of temperature, pressure, and relative humidity vertical profiles, the differential optical depth conversion into weighted-average column dry-air volumemixing ratio is also presented.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1387-1398
Number of pages12
JournalApplied optics
Volume54
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 20 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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