Laser Transmitters for Airborne Methane and Water Vapor DIAL Instruments

Measurements of atmospheric water vapor and methane are two of the most important drivers of Earths weather/climate and carbon budge systems, respectively. The development of HALO, enabled by the laser developments under the NASA SBIR program as well as the proposed program here, will enable NASA to meet the observational needs of the atmospheric composition, weather, climate variability & change, water & energy cycle, and carbon cycle & ecosystems communities with a single airborne instrument that is rapidly deployable on local NASA aircraft. HALO will not only be a facility instrument providing new observations of water vapor and methane abundances to the scientific community, but it could also function as a prototype for future DIAL space missions. HALO water vapor profile measurements have a target accuracy of <5% from the lower stratosphere down the surface with 150-300 m range resolution. Currently, no range resolved profile information of stratospheric or tropospheric water vapor is provide by either NASA or NOAA satellite platforms, only broad averaging kernel column measurements. HALO water vapor measurements enabled by the Fibertek SBIR lasers will be a drastic improvement over existing data provided by passive spectrometers and interferometers in that it will provide accurate range resolved profiles of water vapor over all latitudes during day and night operation. HALO methane measurements have a target accuracy <1% for column averages weighted to the near surface atmosphere, where most of the emissions reside. Lidar measurements will enable night and day measurements of methane at all latitudes and over all seasons, which is a major improvement over existing passive sensors such as the Japanese GOSAT interferometer which can only measure methane columns during daytime and at low latitudes. Furthermore, because of the laser advancements resulting from the methane laser Phase II SBIR program with Fibertek, the high laser pulse energies may for the first time enable range resolved profiles of methane mixing ratios with ~1km range resolution in the lower troposphere. The proposed effort supports the maturation of two new Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) laser transmitters being developed under two separate NASA SBIR programs. The two SBIR Phase I programs were used to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the new lidar transmitter architectures based on high power and high pulse repetition rate frequency optical parametric oscillators (OPO). The Phase II programs were targeted to building laser hardware based on the positive results from the phase I risk reduction experiments. The two lasers from the two separate Phase II programs were configured to have common optical, mechanical, and electrical architecture such that they could interchangeable units in an airborne lidar being developed for methane and water vapor DIAL measurements. This lidar is now known as HALO. Because of its advance in schedule and completion of the Phase II program, the CRP is proposed under the umbrella of the Methane Laser SBIR program (NNX13CL04C) but is intended to advance the TRL of both Phase II laser systems to TRL 6 due to the common mechanical, optical, and electrical architectures. The deliverable laser transmitters from the two Phase II SBIR programs will be at TRL 4 (laboratory prototype designed for aircraft flight compatibility), but the rapid wavelength switching (not completely covered under the Phase II program) will not have been completely tested nor will the lasers be demonstrated in a relevant flight environment. OPO lasers are sensitive to aircraft vibrations which can limit their spectral fidelity and agility. This proposed maturation program will advance the readiness level for both laser transmitters to TRL-6 through testing in a relevant (airborne) environment. In addition, we will incorporate lessons learned from performance and environmental testing of the methane and water vapor transmitters into the delivered units. These upgrades will enhance the reliability of the lasers to a level supporting extended airborne field campaigns planned by NASA for the new HALO instrument. The methane and water vapor laser are being built serially, with a separation of about 12 months, so that lessons learned on the methane transmitter can be incorporated into the water vapor system.

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