Abstract

A balloon-borne lidar system for measuring the concentration of trace species in the stratosphere has been built and flown. The instrument consisted of a frequency-doubled tunable dye laser pumped 'by a Nd:YAG laser, a multiwavelength detector comprised of a 12-in. Cassegrainian telescope coupled to a modified ¹/₄-m spectrometer, and a gated detection system using both photon counting and analog detection to yield a great dynamic range for the optical system. The entire assembly was housed in a pressurized temperature regulated container which permitted the use of standard laboratory components for much of the system. Gross weight of the experiment including batteries and telemetry equipment was 3400 lb.

© 1981 Optical Society of America