IAOOS microlidar-on-buoy development and first atmospheric observations obtained during 2014 and 2015 arctic drifts.

The in situ tests of first ever autonomous aerosol and cloud backscatter LIDAR (light detection and ranging) systems implemented on buoys for Arctic observations has been achieved in 2015 within the French EQUIPEX IAOOS project. The environmental and operational constraints were met by adopting a concept of a fibered microjoule lidar system using a laser diode. Two systems have been developed with and without polarization analysis capability.

Direct-detection wind lidar operating with a multimode laser.

A direct-detection wind lidar that operates with a multimode laser has been developed and tested. The instrument exploits the light backscattered by particles using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with an optical path difference matched to the free spectral range of the laser longitudinal modes. In addition to requiring no monomodal emission, the system requires no frequency locking between the interferometer and the laser.