Sodium fluorescence Doppler lidar to measure atmospheric temperature in the mesopause region

• Published in: Chinese science bulletin 2011-02, Vol.56 (4-5), p.417-423
• Main Authors: Hu, Xiong, Yan, ZhaoAi, Guo, ShangYong, Cheng, YongQiang, Gong, JianCun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: air temperature; Chemistry/Food Science; Earth atmosphere; Earth Sciences; Engineering; fluorescence; Humanities and Social Sciences; lidar; Life Sciences; multidisciplinary; Physics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); sodium; temperature profiles; 中层顶区; 共振荧光; 多普勒; 大气温度; 数据分析系统; 激光雷达系统; 钠原子; 雷达测量
• ISSN: 1001-6538; 1861-9541
• DOI: 10.1007/s11434-010-4306-x

A sodium fluorescence Doppler lidar system has been developed to measure environmental parameters of the middle and upper atmosphere. The lidar system mainly comprises a transmitter system, receiver system, data acquisition and control system and data analysis system. A narrowband 589 nm laser is used to excite sodium atoms in the mesopause region. Excitation of the sodium atoms results in resonance fluorescence, which is collected by the receiver. The temperatures in the mesopause region (about 75–105 km) can be derived by analyzing the Doppler-broadened width of the sodium fluorescence. Observations were made with the lidar system, and the number density of sodium atoms and atmospheric temperature profiles were extracted from the observation data. Comparisons of the lidar temperatures and TIMED/SABER temperatures show good agreement, illustrating the reliability of the sodium fluorescence Doppler lidar measurements.