Detector Evaluation for Lidar System to Measure Ocean Sub-Surface Temperature and Salinity Profiles

Ocean temperature and salinity have a wide range of effects on the Earth, including influencing weather systems, climate, marine ecosystems, and other ocean states. Current remote measurements are limited to the first few millimeters to meters of the water column. We propose to evaluate a hyperfine spectrometer designed for measurement of the Brillouin line shapes at 532nm that could simultaneously measure temperature and salinity depth profiles. The proposed spectrometer of evaluation has the desired characteristics of low read noise and high spectral resolution around a wavelength of 532nm with the added benefit of fundamental suppression of center wavelength of up to 30dB.

It has been shown that by measuring the separation and width of Brillouin lines simultaneously that a calculation for the corresponding temperature and salinity of the medium that has caused the scattering can be inferred. The ability to measure the spectral shape of the Brillouin scattering opens the potential for a LiDAR system to measure salinity and temperature profiles of the ocean. This instrument will position GSFC to be competitive as we enter a “satellite lidar era in oceanography” to provide a lidar technology that can push the boundaries of our understanding of oceans.

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