Comparison of an Fe Boltzmann temperature Lidar with a Na narrow-band lidar

Abstract

The modeled performance of an Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar system is compared with existing Na narrow-band temperature techniques. The Fe Boltzmann technique employs mesospheric Fe as a fluorescence tracer and relies on the temperature dependence of the population difference of two closely spaced Fe transitions. The relative performance of the new technique is compared with an existing Na narrow-band temperature technique, and a link analysis is performed with measured data for both Na and Fe. It is shown that for currently available laser technology the two systems yield similar performance but the Fe system allows for the use of more broadband lasers.