High-energy eye-safe aerosol lidar for use in urban areas

NCAR, DARPA and ITT Industries have recently completed the development of a new aerosol backscatter lidar that is ideal for the detection and tracking of plumes consisting of small particles. The lidar, called "REAL" for Raman-shifted Eye-safe Aerosol Lidar, features a high pulse energy eye-safe transmitter, large collection optics, and a quick beam steering unit for rapid scanning. The prototype REAL was developed at NCAR and is available to the university community for research applications. A hardened version of REAL (called "REAL v2") has been developed by ITT Industries with funding from DARPA. REAL v2 is designed for continuous and unattended operation, and first results from the new system will be collected during the autumn of 2005. This presentation will showcase those new results. REAL v2, or a similarly engineered future system, may be of use to city officials and emergency responders who are interested in mapping the aerosol distribution in urban areas.