A compact, lightweight, and efficient fiber laser lidar system has been developed to measure water vapor profiles in the lower atmosphere of Earth or Mars. The line narrowed laser consist of a Tm:germanate fiber pumped by two 792 nm diode arrays. The fiber laser transmits approximately 0.5 mJ Q- switched pulses at 5 Hz and can be tuned to water vapor lines near 1.94 microm with linewidth of approximately 20 pm. A lightweight lidar receiver telescope was constructed of carbon epoxy fiber with a 30 cm Fresnel lens and an advanced HgCdTe APD detector. This system has made preliminary atmospheric measurements.

Abstract. The Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) is a unique network of lidar systems that measure highresolution atmospheric profiles of ozone. The accurate characterization of these lidars is necessary to determine the uniformity of the network calibration. From July to August 2014, three lidars, the TROPospheric OZone (TROPOZ) lidar, the Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) lidar, and the Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL), of TOLNet participated in the Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) mission and the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ) to measure ozone variations from the boundary layer to the top of the troposphere. This study presents the analysis of the intercomparison between the TROPOZ, TOPAZ, and LMOL lidars, along with comparisons between the lidars and other in situ ozone instruments including ozonesondes and a P-3B airborne chemiluminescence sensor. The TOLNet lidars measured vertical ozone structures with an accuracy generally better than ±15 % within the troposphere. Larger differences occur at some individual altitudes in both the near-field and far-field range of the lidar systems, largely as expected. In terms of column average, the TOLNet lidars measured ozone with an accuracy better than ±5 % for both the intercomparison between the lidars and between the lidars and other instruments. These results indicate that these three TOLNet lidars are suitable for use in air quality, satellite validation, and ozone modeling efforts.

An aerosol lidar system was deployed on the NASA DC-8 and used to measure aerosol vertical profiles in the California Central Valley. The nadir-pointing Nd:YAG lidar operated at 532 and 1064 nm at 20 Hz. The resulting aerosol profiles were plotted in a unique three-dimensional format that allowed the visual observation of the aerosol scattering ratio profiles, the valley topography, and corresponding backward trajectory air masses. The accumulation of aerosols from the Bakersfield area can be seen in the southern end of the valley due to topography and prevailing winds.

The elemental mass analysis of laser-produced ions from Al, Cu, Ge, Ag, and a lunar simulant target when irradiated by a 400-mJ, 8-ns, Nd: YAG laser at 1 × 109 W/cm2 is reported. Ions traveled down a 11.1-m evacuated tube to an ion-trap 1-m time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer where an elemental mass spectrum was recorded. The amount of target material removed per laser pulse and the ionization fraction were also measured. The ion spatial distribution was measured at 11.1-m distance and found to be near a fourth-power cosine distribution. These results indicate the ability to mass analyze a surface over a distance of many kilometers for lunar and asteroid surface elemental mass analysis by a remote satellite or lunar rover.