An economical optical cloud/fog detector

A new, relatively low cost instrument has been developed to detect the presence of fog or cloud for fog/cloud sampling applications. The instrument uses attenuation of an 880 nm light emitting diode signal to detect cloud/fog drops in the optical path between a sending and receiving arm. Laboratory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric research 2008-03, Vol.87 (3), p.259-267
Main Authors: Carrillo, Jacqueline H., Emert, Scott E., Sherman, D. Eli, Herckes, Pierre, Collett, Jeffrey L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automated sampling
Cloud detection
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Fog detection
Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models
Liquid water content
Meteorology
Optical attenuation
Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation)
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Summary:A new, relatively low cost instrument has been developed to detect the presence of fog or cloud for fog/cloud sampling applications. The instrument uses attenuation of an 880 nm light emitting diode signal to detect cloud/fog drops in the optical path between a sending and receiving arm. Laboratory and field testing under a variety of conditions and fog types were carried out to determine the ability of the optical fog detector (OFD) to accurately detect cloud/fog presence as well as to provide some measure of liquid water content. Results indicated that the OFD provided a reliable estimate of fog presence as well as a reasonable estimate of liquid water content (LWC) under several different conditions. The OFD does appear to have an interference from rain, resulting in an overestimation of LWC during rainfall. This may occasionally give a false positive indication of fog presence.
ISSN:0169-8095
1873-2895
DOI:10.1016/j.atmosres.2007.11.007