Lidar Research Laboratory
The mission of the Lidar Research Laboratory (LRL) is to support laser radar (lidar) and associated studies of the Arctic atmosphere.
Like a radar, the lidar transmits a pulse of light into the sky and measures the echoes to make a profile of the atmospher from the ground up to heights as far as 75 miles (120 km).
Photo by T. Matsuo
Text by D. Coccia Manning
The laboratory is located at Poker Flat Research Range, Chatanika, Alaska and operated by the faculty, staff, and students of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Completed in 2000, the LRL is a 5325 square foot (495 square meter) facility that houses several laboratories and shops that are equiped to support field experiments. The Geophysical Institute invites investigators who wish to conduct lidar and associated research to make use of this facility.
- The LRL is contributing to the International Polar Year as part of the Arctic Observing Network. Observations at the LRL are being used to study the middle atmosphere during the IPY to better understand the physics and chemistry of the Arctic polar vortex.
- The LRL supports studies of noctilucent clouds and the Eighth International Workshop on Layered Phenomena in the Mesopause Region (LPMR-8). LPMR-8 was held at the Geophysical Institute (GI) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) on the UAF campus during 20-23 August 2007.
Aurora and a laser radar beam light up the sky on a winter's night at the Lidar Research Laboratory, Poker Flat Research Range, Chatanika, Alaska . The Geophysical Institute and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology operate the laser radar (or lidar) as part of an international collaborative study of the polar atmosphere.
The lidar like other experiments at Poker Flat Research Range, not only serves to study the atmosphere, but also provides hands-on research education opportunities for students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
The following have and/or continue to support research activities at the LRL: US National Science Foundation, US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, US Department of Defense, State of Alaska, Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.
Learn more at http://www2.gi.alaska.edu/splidar/
For further information please contact:
Dr. Richard Collins
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks,
903 Koyukuk Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775.
Tel: (907) 474-7607.
E-mail: rlc [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu.