Droplet's Mini Micro Pulse LIDAR

The Mini Micro Pulse LiDAR (MiniMPL) is a small form factor, low-power, elastic backscatter lidar. The instrument is a ground-based, optical, remote-sensing system designed to determine the altitude of clouds and to detect atmospheric aerosols.

Pulses of energy are transmitted into the atmosphere; the energy scattered back to the transceiver is collected and measured as a time-resolved signal, thereby detecting clouds and aerosols in real time. MPL and MiniMPL are the only LiDARs simultaneously approved for NASA MPLNET, US Dept of Energy program and EUMETNET.

Technology

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)

Pulses of laser energy are transmitted into the atmosphere; the energy scattered back to the transceiver is collected and measured as a time-resolved signal, thereby detecting clouds and aerosols in real time.
The transmission path starts at the laser. The beam is first expanded, and then the polarization orientation is set. Finally, the laser goes through a second stage of expansion before it leaves the telescope. Two polarization states leave the MiniMPL, co-pol and cross-pol.
On the return path, light that has been scattered off particles in the atmosphere enters the MiniMPL and follows the same path as the transmit beam. Once it enters the telescope, it is collected by the receiver and focused onto the detector (not shown).