Atmospheric Remote Sensing: Instruments

Micro-pulse Doppler (MicroDop) lidar

Conical or Vertical scanning Doppler lidar for wind profiles and Aerosol Backscatter Intensity (ABI) profiles packaged for aircraft, ship, or ground based measurements. Installed in the bed of a pickup truck in 2020, the lidar was coupled with a motion stabilization platform which allowed for stabilization during vertical staring measurements and scanning during azimuthal scans.

MicroDop ground instrument
MicroDop ground site instrument
MicroDop aircraft instrument
MicroDop aircraft instrument installed in NOAA Twin Otter
PUMAS installation
MicroDop instrument installed in pickup truck
More information about the PUMAS (Pick-Up based Mobile Atmospheric Sounder) installation

Basic Parameters Measured

  • Horizontal wind profiles
  • Vertical velocity
  • Range corrected, Aerosol Backscatter Intensity (ABI) profiles
measurements
instrument measurement modes
Aircraft MicroDop Scanning mode (left; 1 rev/profile every 1-6 seconds) and Vertical Starring mode (right)
instrument installed in NOAA Twin Otter
MicroDop installed over 19.5" port on NOAA Twin Otter – articulates for vertical staring and removal of aircraft pitch

Typical Specifications

Pulse length30, 60, 90 m
Pulse rep frequency20,000 Hz
Beam rate2-10 Hz
Pulse energy50 µJ
Wavelength1.553 µm (invisible & eyesafe)
Beam diameter7.62 cm
Orientationvertical
Maximum range7 km
Electrical power120V 30A
Platformsground, ship, aircraft

Field Projects

Project NameDateLocation
AMEDAirborne Measurements and analysis of Emissions over the Denver-Julesburg & Piceance202310October - November 2023NW Colorado (truck)
AWAKENAmerican WAKE experimeNt202308August - September 2023Oklahoma (truck)
CUPiDSCoastal Urban Plume Dynamics Study202306June - August 2023NYC region (aircraft)
CalFiDECalifornia Fire Dynamics Experiment202208August - September 2022California (aircraft, truck)
SITESystem Integration and Test Experiment202106Summer 2021Lakeland, Florida (aircraft)
SUNVExSouthwest Urban NOx and VOC Experiment202106Summer 2021Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California (truck)
PUMASPickUp based Mobile Atmospheric Sounder202006June - October 2020, October - November 2021Colorado Front Range (truck)
COVID-AQSCOVID Air Quality Study202003Spring 2020Boulder, Colorado (ground site)
ATOMICAtlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction Campaign202001January - February 2020tropical North Atlantic (ship)
FIREX-AQFire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality201908July - August 2019Boise, Idaho (aircraft)
Fire Winds201807June 2018Lakeland, Florida (aircraft)
PISTONPropagation of Intra-Seasonal Tropical Oscillations201708August - October 2018Philippine Sea (ship)
FAST-LVOSFires, Asian, and Stratospheric Transport - Las Vegas Ozone Study201705May - June 2017Las Vegas, Nevada (ground site)
WFIP22nd Wind Forecast Improvement Project201609 September - October 2016Columbia River Basin (ground site)