LIDAR Development and its Applications at UPRM

1
LIDAR Development and its Applications at UPRM
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus
Abstract
Procedure
Getting to understand the planets radiation
budget plays an important role in atmospheric
studies, and consequently in climate
understanding. With the help of a 3 wavelength
(355, 532, 1064 nm) fixed LIDAR that will be
established at the University of Puerto Rico
Mayagüez Campus (UPRM), and a MICROTOPS II
sunphotometer, the research community at UPRM
will contribute to the climate knowledge, by
studying atmospheric constituents such as
aerosols. In this research project aerosol
parameters such as extinction and backscatter
coefficients, are determined using a set of data
from the Arecibo Observatory (AO) LIDAR. The data
used for the analysis is from two successive days
at wavelengths 532 and 589 nm. Previous analysis
of the AO data over the months and years, show
that aerosol variations for the same months of
different years are very small.
After processing the AO data, the steps
to obtain the particle extinction and backscatter
coefficients are described by the following
equations . Starting whit the standard
atmospheric model we have
Particle Extinction Coefficient
LIDAR Development
Particle Backscatter Coefficient
As part of our contribution to the atmospheric
studies, a 3 wavelength LIDAR will be established
at UPRM, which specifications will match those
of the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal
Polarization (CALIOP) part of the Cloud-Aerosol
Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite
Observations (CALIPSO) mission and the Arecibo
Observatory LIDAR. Therefore, a cross validation
of the systems data will be possible. The systems
specifications are as follow
UPRM LIDAR Transmits 1064 nm 532
nm 355 nm RR 20 Hz
Receives 1064 nm 532 nm 355
nm 1m telescope
Aerosol Optical Thickness
Feature Work

• Use the previous results for derivation of
  aerosol parameters such as effective radius,
  single scattering Albedo and aerosol
  concentration.
• Validate the data whit the Arecibo Observatory
  LIDAR data and the CALIOP data when orbiting over
  the Puerto Rico Region.
• Utilize the aerosol physical properties data to
  improve climate predictions and forecast poor
  quality air conditions episodes over the western
  and north-western regions of Puerto Rico.

Results
Following the previous procedure, the
power profiles were included in the analysis to
determine the extinction and backscatter
coefficients.
Acknowledgments
We really appreciate the support to this project
by the combined NOAA-CREST grant NA17AE1625 and
NASA-EPSCoR grant NCC5-595.