MicroPulse DIAL (MPD)

The MicroPulse Differential Absorption Lidar (MicroPulse DIAL, or MPD) is a compact, field-deployable, eye-safe lidar that offers continuous unattended monitoring of water vapor, temperature, and quantitative cloud/aerosol properties in the lower troposphere.  A network of five water vapor MPD units has been constructed with four currently available to the research community.  These instruments can be used to advance knowledge in a variety of areas, including the temporal and spatial distribution of boundary layer temperature and water vapor, convection initiation, and land-atmosphere exchange.

MPD is a combination of three lidars in one unit. A water vapor DIAL measures absolute humidity, a High Spectral Resolution Lidar measures calibrated aerosol backscatter coefficient, and an oxygen DIAL measures temperature.  These techniques provide accurate and calibration-free measurements requiring a minimal set of assumptions.

The use of a diode-laser-based architecture has distinct benefits. The lasers are considerably more compact, reliable, and less expensive than typically used for lidar instrumentation.  The transmitted laser beam is eye-safe and invisible (Class 1M).  For high-quality daytime operation, suppression of the solar background is achieved with a narrow receiver field-of-view and extremely narrow-band optical filters.  The received light is measured with single photon counting detectors.

Specifications