Carl Anthony Nardell

Molecular optical air data system (MOADS) prototype II

The Molecular Optical Air Data System (MOADS) is a compact instrument designed to measure aircraft airspeed as well as the density of the air surrounding the aircraft. Other air data products provided by the instrument include density altitude, angle of attack (AOA), angle of side-slip (AOS), and Mach number. MOADS is a direct-detection LIDAR that measures these air data products from fringe images derived from a Fabry-Perot etalon. Determination of airspeed and direction is achieved through three telescopes that view a fixed air volume ahead of the aircraft turbulent flow field. This method reduces the measurement error as compared to traditional measurements made from within this turbulent region. As a direct detection LIDAR instrument, MOADS is capable of collecting both molecular and aerosol LIDAR returns, which allows operation in clear air as well as in aerosol-filled atmospheric regions. A second prototype was designed, built and tested. This MOADS prototype has been validated in a laboratory wind tunnel. Presented here are the airflow velocity measurement results from ground testing and vibration test measurements.

Molecular optical air data system (MOADS) flight experiment

The Molecular Optical Air Data System (MOADS) is a compact optical instrument that can directly measure aircraft velocity, as well as the density of the air surrounding the aircraft. From these measurements, many air data products can be determined. Successful MOADS operation has been demonstrated in the laboratory using a wind tunnel. Recently, a MOADS prototype was designed and built in order to complete an upcoming flight experiment aboard a Beechcraft King Air 300. This flight program will be a significant milestone for direct detection lidar systems configured as an air data system aboard an aircraft. The background of the technology, ground experimentation summary of results, flight experiment approach, flight prototype design, and flight experiment planning are discussed.

Performance and comparison of 532-nm and 355-nm groundwinds lidars

GroundWinds 2nd Generation (2nd Gen.) New Hampshire (NH) and GroundWinds Hawaii (HI) are direct detection Doppler LIDAR instruments that operate at 532nm and 355nm, respectively. These ground based incoherent LIDARs utilize backscatter from Rayleigh and Mie scattering to measure Doppler shifts in the atmosphere. The NH and HI instruments routinely make wind measurements from 0.5 to 15 kilometers and achieve sub-meter per second accuracies in the lower troposphere. This paper will provide a brief review of each instrument, and detail the instruments performance and achievements in wind measurement.

Direct detection Doppler wind lidar: ground-based operation to space

Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSE) conducted by organizations and reseachers around the world indicate that accurate global wind profiles observed by a spaceborne Doppler wind lidar (DWL) have the potential to significantly improve weather forecasting, hurricane tracking, and global climate studies. Accurate wind profiles from airborne and spaceborne platforms will also have national defense and homeland security applications. In this paper, we will first give a brief review of the history and status of Doppler wind lidar development. Then we will present some results from GroundWinds, a ground-based direct detection Doppler wind lidar (D3WL) technology development and demonstration testbed sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We will describe our plan for observing winds from 30 km looking down as part of the BalloonWinds program. We will then use GroundWinds as references to discuss the feasibility and requirements for a spaceborne D3WL in the context of an initial point design. We will discuss Raytheons internal research and development (IRAD) plan with the objective of developing a prototype space-qualified laser as an engineering model and risk reduction laser for a spaceborne Doppler wind lidar.

GroundWinds New Hampshire and the LIDARFest 2000 campaign

The GroundWinds New Hampshire instrument is a direct detection Doppler LIDAR system that utilizes backscatter signal from both Rayleigh and Mie scattering to measure Doppler shifts in the atmosphere from the ground. This system is the first of two planned systems that will be used to validate the technology and improve the design for other potential implementations. As a means to that end, a validation campaign was conducted in September 2000 to compare the GroundWinds measurements to that from four other systems. These were the GLOW instrument, the NOAA Mini MOPA system, and a Microwave sounder from the National Weather Service. This paper will review the design of the GroundWinds instrument, as well as summarize some of the preliminary GroundWinds results from the field experiment.

GroundWinds 2000 field campaign: demonstration of new Doppler lidar technology and wind lidar data intercomparison

A field campaign featuring three collocated Doppler wind lidars was conducted over ten days during September 2000 at the GroundWinds Observatory in New Hampshire. The lidars were dissimilar in wavelength and Doppler detection method. The GroundWinds lidar operated at 532 nm and used fringe-imaging direct detection, while the Goddard Lidar Observatory for Winds (GLOW) ran at 355 nm and employed double-edge filter direct detection, and the NOAA mini-MOPA operated at 10 microns and used heterodyne detection. The objectives of the campaign were (1) to demonstrate the capability of the GroundWinds lidar to measure winds while employing several novel components, and (2) to compare directly the radial wind velocities measured by the three lidars for as wide a variety of conditions as possible. Baseline wind profiles and ancillary meteorological data (temperature and humidity profiles) were obtained by launching GPS radiosondes from the observatory as frequently as every 90 minutes. During the final week of the campaign the lidars collected data along common lines-of-sight for several extended periods. The wind speed varied from light to jet stream values, and sky conditions ranged from clear to thick clouds. Intercomparisons of overlapping lidar and radiosonde observations show that all three lidars were able to measure wind given sufficient backscatter. At ranged volumes containing thicker clouds, and those beyond, the wind sensing capability of the direct detection lidars was adversely affected.

Low-cost mission architecture for global tropospheric wind measurements

Tropospheric wind measurements are of great meteorological and tactical value, but are presently not available on a global basis. The primary obstacle to a space-based Doppler wind LIDAR mission capable of obtaining these measurements has been the cost and risk associated with flying high power lasers and large telescopes in low-earth orbit. This paper presents an alternative approach that would result in a low-cost, low-risk responsive approach to deploying a global tropospheric wind measurement system.

Instrument specifications and performance prediction for 2005 high altitude (30 km) balloon demonstration of GroundWinds fringe imaging Doppler lidar

The GroundWinds direct detection Doppler wind LIDARs located in NH and HI are operational, ground based, multi-order fringe imaging systems capable of detecting Doppler shifts in both Aerosol and Molecular backscatter from 0.25 km to 18 km. The technology developed through these GroundWinds programs will be incorporated and flown on a high altitude (30km) balloon in 2005. The demonstration of GroundWinds Fabry-Perot based incoherent LIDAR technology from a high altitude, downward looking platform to measure winds throughout the entire troposphere and boundary layer will be a significant milestone toward the validation of this technology. Key questions will be answered about the phenomenology of direct detection LIDAR, especially its effectiveness in the optically thick boundary layer. The extensive characterization of the 532nm GroundWinds NH and 355nm GroundWinds HI LIDARs serve as excellent reference points from which performance estimates and technology requirements can be determined to ensure a successful balloon mission. This paper will describe the baseline BalloonWinds instrument specifications; including etalon specifications, system component transmissions, transmit/receive specifications, required laser power, and detector characteristics. This paper will also present performance estimates based on model simulations that employ the baseline system specifications.

Space lidar simulations derived from the GroundWinds New Hampshire and Hawaii instruments

The GroundWinds photon recycling fringe imaging direct detection Doppler LIDAR systems have been used to validate models of systems using this technology. These instruments have been characterized extensively over the past 2 years in an effort to experimentally determine the performance enhancements that the GroundWinds technology provides. This effort focused on the validation of all aspects of the instrument performance, including component and system transmissions, photon recycling gains, camera and system noise sources, and background contribution. The results of these investigations have been used to formulate a point design for a space-based system. Presented here are the performance predictions and point design parameters for a spaceborne Doppler wind lidar that utilizes the GroundWinds fringe imaging technology.

Intercomparison of Doppler Wind Lidar Velocity Measurements

Three collocated Doppler Wind Lidars (DWLs) were used to measure winds during a demonstration campaign in New Hampshire September 2000. Corresponding line-of-sight (LOS) velocities determined by pairs of DWLs realized good agreement under clear sky conditions with random differences that increase as a function of decreasing signal strength. The radiosonde wind component projected along the DWL LOS typically showed good agreement. Clouds caused sharp attenuation of the signal and adversely affected LOS retrievals at cloud levels and beyond. Implications of the results for improving the instruments and organizing future Doppler wind lidar field campaigns are discussed.