New and Emerging Space Lidar Technology
Chair: George Komar (NASA Headquarters, USA) - Co-Chair: Bruno Cugny (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
Lidar in space is an emerging technology now being developing to fit applications where passive sensors cannot meet current measurement requirements. Lidar technology is evolving rapidly and lidar systems have been used in a number of applications to study the atmosphere, land surface, and ocean. The new and emerging space lidar technologies are focused on highly electrically efficient solid-state or fiber-based laser transmitters, advanced telescope concepts with novel light weight optical and opto-mechnical design of high rigidity and long term stability and low noise, high quantum efficiency, UV-IR photedetector and avalanche photo diodes for direct and coherent detection. This session will focus on the topics related to new and emerging transmitter, telescope and detector related technology advancement for enabling space-based lidar measurements of winds, carbon dioxide, methane, clouds and aerosols, water vapor, ozone and laser ranging and ice-topography applications. The session will include invited talks describing new and emerging space lidar technology and a panel of experts discussing the future thrust for lidar solutions. Contributions from the lidar community in the form of extended abstracts of up to six pages are solicited for inclusion in the Workshop Proceedings, which will include a White Paper and Session Summary highlighting the major points discussed at the Workshop. Oral summaries of contributed abstracts and a panel discussion with full audience participation will conclude the half-day session.
