Abstract:
The ATmospheric LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), ATLID, is part of the payload of the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission, the sixth Earth...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
The ATmospheric LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), ATLID, is part of the payload of the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission, the sixth Earth Explorer Mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) Living Planet Programme [1]. The EarthCARE payload consists of four instruments that will, in a synergetic manner, retrieve vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols, and the characteristics of the radiative and microphysical properties, to determine flux gradients within the atmosphere and top of atmosphere radiance and flux. ATLID's objective is to provide vertical profiles of optically thin cloud and aerosol layers, as well as the altitude of cloud boundaries. With that purpose ATLID emits <;35ns duration laser pulses with 40mJ energy in the UV, at a repetition rate of 51 Hz, while pointing in a near nadir direction along track of the satellite trajectory. The backscatter signal is collected by a 620 mm aperture telescope and is then filtered and redirected through the optics of the instrument focal plane assembly, in such a way that, the atmospheric Mie and Rayleigh scattering contributions are separated and independently measured. After the full instrument assembly completion, ATLID has been initially subjected to an ambient performance tests campaign, followed by a complete environmental qualification test campaign including performance calibration and characterization in thermal vacuum conditions in order to approximate the on-orbit operational conditions. Whilst the full set of test data is currently being processed, early analysis of preliminary test results indicates that the instrument is fully compliant with expected performance. In this paper the design of ATLID is recalled and major instrument manufacturing, assembly and testing steps are presented. It is foreseen that the calibration and qualification test result shall be confirmed and presented at the time of the conference.
Date of Conference: 26 September 2020 - 02 October 2020
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 17 February 2021
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