August 5, 2016

CALIOP Lidar

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) is a two-wavelength (532 nm and 1064 nm) polarization-sensitive lidar that provides high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds.

CALIOP uses three receiver channels: one measures the 1064 nm backscatter intensity and two channels measure orthogonally polarized components of the 532 nm backscattered signal.

The receiver telescope is 1 metre in diameter. The full-angle field of view of the telescope is 130 µrad resulting in a footprint at the Earth's surface of about 90 metres.

Dual 14-bit digitizers on each channel provide an effective 22-bit dynamic range necessary to measure backscatter signals from clouds and the molecular atmosphere. An active boresight system is used to maintain co-alignment between the transmitter and the receiver.

Lidar Specifications
Lidar TypeNd: YAG, diode-pumped, Q-switched, frequency-doubled
Wavelength532 and 1064 nm
Repetition rate20 Hz
Telescope aperture1 m
Horizontal/vertical resolution333 m / 30 m
Data rate316 kbps
Schema LIDARCharge utile
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