NASA LARC IS DEVELOPING A COMPACT, MULTI-WAVELENGTH HIGH SPECTRAL RESOLUTION LIDAR (HSRL) SYSTEM DESIGNED T…

Public award description

NASA LARC IS DEVELOPING A COMPACT, MULTI-WAVELENGTH HIGH SPECTRAL RESOLUTION LIDAR (HSRL) SYSTEM DESIGNED TO MEASURE VARIOUS OPTICAL AND MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF AEROSOLS AND CLOUDS. THE HSRL SYSTEM USES A HIGH POWER, PULSED, SEEDED ND:YAG LASER, WHOSE SEED IS WAVELENGTH-STABILIZED TO AN IODINE VAPOR ABSORPTION LINE. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PHASE II EFFORT IS TO PROVIDE A ROBUST, NEXT GENERATION SEED LASER SYSTEM WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN SIZE, WEIGHT, AND REQUIRED "WALL-PLUG" POWER FOR HSRL AND OTHER LIDAR APPLICATIONS. THIS APPROACH IS ENABLED BY USE OF A SUITABLE COMPACT LASER DIODE SOURCE, TOGETHER WITH ADVR'S INTEGRATED PLANAR LIGHTWAVE CIRCUIT (PLC) TECHNOLOGY. FURTHERMORE, ADVR'S MULTI-ELEMENT WAVEGUIDE TECHNOLOGY WILL BE UTILIZED IN THIS PHASE II EFFORT TO PROVIDE A COMPACT 355NM SOURCE, DERIVED FROM THE SAME SEED LASER, FOR CALIBRATION OF THE HSRL UV INTERFEROMETRIC FILTER. A COMPACT, NEXT GENERATION SEED LASER SYSTEM UTILIZING ADVR'S PLC AND UV TECHNOLOGY, INTEGRATED WITH A HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPACT LASER DIODE SOURCE WILL ADVANCE NASA'S LIDAR SYSTEMS DUE TO ITS COMPACT, EFFICIENT, AND RELIABLE DESIGN, THUS ENABLING USE ON SMALL AIRCRAFT AND SATELLITES.