DESCRIPTION OF A DOPPLER RAYLEIGH LIDAR FOR MEASURING WINDS IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE

The possibility to measure winds in the middle atmosphere with a Doppler LIDAR was demonstrated in 1989. It has been used since then to study the wave-mean flow interaction, in association with the Rayleigh LIDAR providing density and temperature and their fluctuations. The Doppler LIDAR relies on Rayleigh scattering from air molecules and was originally designed to cover the height range 25-60km, a region where radars cannot operate. The Doppler shift of the backscattered echo is measured by inter-comparing the signal detected through each of two narrow band-passes of a single dual Fabry-Perot interferometer tuned to either side of the emitted laser line. Its extension to lower altitudes where Mie scattering is present is under study.