Heterodyne and Direct Detection Wind Lidar Developed at ONERA
Résumé
In this paper, we present the two wind lidar architectures developed at ONERA: the heterodyne lidar which analyzes the backscattering of particles and the direct detection lidar using a QMZ which analyzes the backscattering of molecules. In both cases, solutions have been developed to be able to embark them on an airplane: fiber laser, robust receiver, robust general architecture. Both technologies could provide interesting comparative measurements for AEOLUS calibration/validation campaigns: the heterodyne configuration allows precise measurements on the lower part of the atmosphere while the QMZ configuration allows reaching up to at an altitude of 20 km. In addition, regarding the developments made for molecular lidar, the UV fiber laser and the monolithic QMZ receiver could be excellent solutions for the next generation of Aeolus to reduce costs, improve data quality and lidar durability.