Ozone Lidar Utilizing 308 nm and 355 nm Compact Fiber-Based Lasers

Both stratospheric ozone and tropospheric ozone significantly affect the lifeforms on Earth. They influence the environment, the atmosphere, and the global climate. The science community has spent tremendous efforts on the observation of ozone concentration in the atmosphere. Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) has played a critical role in obtaining range-resolved ozone profiles in the atmosphere. In this proposal, we aim to design and build a compact, robust, reliable, efficient, anti-vibrational, and easy-to-maintain stratospheric ozone lidar with AdValue Photonics single frequency UV lasers at 308 nm and 343 nm based on all-fiberized Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA). The proposed lidar has the advantage of being suitable to perform observations on various carrying platforms with harsh environment and limited resources. The 308 nm laser will be generated from the frequency mixing of 515 nm and 768 nm laser, which are the second harmonic generation of 1030 nm and 1535 nm laser, respectively. The 343 nm laser will be generated from the third harmonic of AdValue Photonics 1030 nm IR laser. The amplification of the above-mentioned 1030 nm and 1535 nm laser will utilize AdValue Photonics proprietary high-peak-power large-mode-area Yb and Er doped fiber amplifiers. Subsequently, we aim to assemble a stratospheric ozone lidar with such fiber-based lasers and perform ozone observations. In terms of the lidar transmitter, we have demonstrated a 343 nm laser from the Third Harmonic Generation of a 1030 nm laser and delivered a 308 nm laser to NASA GSFC with different operating parameters. The ultimate goal of this SBIR Phase II proposal is to deliver a prototype stratospheric ozone lidar to NASA so that NASA scientists have a workable lidar to test its capability, and at the same time providing critical feedbacks on the system with the consideration of NASAs scientific pursuits. Develop and build single frequency 308 nm and 343 nm lasers based on all fiberized MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) Develop and build a prototype stratospheric ozone lidar with the above-mentioned fiber-based lasers and deliver it to NASA The proposed ozone lidar is compact, robust, reliable, efficient, anti-vibrational, and easy-to-maintain compared to its counterpart that employs excimer UV lasers. The proposed ozone lidar is suitable to field observations on various observational platforms with harsh environment and limited resources The overall objective of this proposal is to develop a compact, reliable, efficient, anti-vibrational, and easy-to-maintain stratospheric ozone lidar with AdValue Photonics’ single frequency UV lasers at 308 nm and 343 nm based on all-fiberized MOPA that is suitable to perform observations on various carrying platforms. Below are the simplified objectives/work plan in this SBIR project: 1. Design and build the lidar transmitter with 308/343 nm fiber-based lasers. 2. Design and build the lidar receiver/DAQ. 3. Obtain atmosphere-returned lidar signal. 4. Move the prototype stratospheric ozone lidar into a concise mechanical design and deliver it to NASA.  

The proposed compact, robust, reliable, efficient, maintenance-free, and anti-vibrational stratospheric ozone lidar favors NASA’s intention to be able to detect ozone concentration in field observations on a variety of carrying platforms. It meets the standard of being small Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) so that it can survive harsh environment and consume limited resources. The demand of monitoring ozone concentration in the atmosphere has progressively become higher from the public community. The proposed ozone lidar will find its applications among atmospheric research, air quality monitoring. As a result, it will greatly increase the temporal and spatial coverage of ozone observation for the betterment of the environment, the atmosphere, and the global climate.

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