Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20915404z&link_type=abstract
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #154.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Scientific paper
The primary impediment to precision all-sky photometry is the scattering or absorption of incoming starlight by the aerosols suspended in, and the molecules of, the Earth's atmosphere. The University of New Mexico (UNM) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are currently developing the Astronomical LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) for Extinction (ALE), which is undergoing final integration and initial calibration at UNM. ALE is based upon a 527nm laser operated at a pulse repetition rate of 1500 pps, and rendered eyesafe by expanding its beam through a 32cm diameter transmitter. The alt-az mounted ALE will operate in multiple modes, including mapping the sky to obtain a quantitative measurement of extinction sources, measuring a monochromatic extinction coefficient by producing Langely plots, and monitoring extinction in the direction in which a telescope is observing.
A primary goal is to use the Rayleigh scattered LIDAR return from air above 20km as a quasi-constant illumination source. Air above this altitude is generally free from aerosols and the variations in density are relatively constant over intervals of a few minutes. When measured at several zenith angles, the integrated line-of-sight extinction can be obtained from a simple model fit of these returns. The 69 microjoule exit pulse power and 0.6m aperture receiver will allow ALE to collect approximately one million photons per minute from above 20km, enough to enable measurements of the monochromatic vertical extinction to better than 1% under photometric conditions. Along the way, ALE will also provide a plethora of additional information about the vertical and horizontal distributions of low-lying aerosols, dust or smoke in the free troposphere, and high cirrus, as well as detect the passage of boundary layer atmospheric gravity waves.
This project is funded by NSF Grant 0421087.
Black Bill
Dawsey M.
Fitch Jonathan J.
Gimmestad Gary G.
McGraw John T.
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