Atmospheric CO2 sensing using Scheimpflug-lidar based on a 1.57-µm fiber source

Abstract

A molecular laser-radar system, based on the Scheimpflug principle, has been constructed and demonstrated for remote sensing of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations using Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) in the (30012←00001) absorption band. The laser source is a Continues Wave (CW) Distributed-FeedBack (DFB) diode laser seeding an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier, emitting narrowband (3 MHz) tunable radiation with an output power of 1.3 W at 1.57 µm. The laser beam is expanded and transmitted to the atmosphere. The atmospheric backscattered signal is collected with a Newtonian telescope and detected with a linear InGaAs array detector satisfying the Scheimpflug condition. We present range-resolved measurements of atmospheric CO₂ concentration from a test range of 2 km located in the city of Lund, Sweden. We discuss and provide scalable results for CO₂ profiling with the Scheimpflug-lidar method.