A new type of lidar for atmospheric optical turbulence

We are developing a new type of lidar for measuring range profiles of atmospheric optical turbulence. The lidar is based on a measurement concept that is immune to artifacts caused by effects such as vibration and defocus. Four different types of analysis and experiment have all shown that a turbulence lidar built from commercially-available components will attain a demanding set of performance goals. The lidar is currently being built for testing scheduled in 2007.