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Los Alamos Elastic Lidar FacilityFacility Description The Elastic Lidar User Facility operates several scanning elastic backscattering lidars that can be used to determine the distribution and properties of atmospheric aerosols. The lidar operates by emitting a pulse of infrared or visible laser light into the atmosphere. Aerosols and, to a limited extent molecules, interact with the pulse and scatter light back toward the lidar. The amount of returning light collected by the telescope is proportional to the aerosol content of the air and the amount of atmospheric attenuation. The systems are capable of day and night operation. Two systems currently are in operation: a truck mounted system with a maximum range for ambient air monitoring of approximately 30 km (one unit) and a miniature system with a maximum range for ambient air monitoring of approximately 8 km (two units). Both systems can operate at either 1064 or 532 nm wavelengths and have options for eyesafe operation. Both systems are capable of fast three-dimensional scanning with real-time data visualization. The systems are controlled by portable IBM-compatible computers. These computers contain the data collection electronics and control the operation of all components of the lidar. A simple user interface makes the system easy to understand and operate, even for non-technical users. The system is capable of independent operation through the use of preselected sequences of scan patterns. A data analysis package, EView, is provided for data analysis. This powerful package offers a wide range of analysis and data display options. A large number of data processing algorithms are provided that can be easily selected by the user. Equipment See above descriptionFacility Access Open Last Update: 25 June 2003 Technical Contact |