HR: 0800h
AN: IN21A-0076    [Abstracts]
TI: The Swath Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar (SIMPL): A Pathfinder for the LIDAR Surface Topography (LIST) Mission
AU: Dabney, P
EM: Philip.W.Dabney@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: * Harding, D
EM: david.j.harding@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Abshire, J
EM: James.Abshire@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Seas, A
EM: aseas@pop500.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Sun, X
EM: Xiaoli.Sun-1@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Shuman, C
EM: Christopher.A.Shuman@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Scambos, T
EM: teds@icehouse.colorado.edu
AF: National Snow and Ice Data Center, 449 UCB University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
AB: The Swath Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar (SIMPL) is an airborne prototype in development to demonstrate laser altimetry measurement methods and components that enable efficient, high-resolution, swath mapping of topography and surface properties from space. This demonstration is advancing technologies that are applicable to the global elevation mapping objectives (5 m spatial resolution, 10 cm vertical precision) of the LIDAR Surface Topography (LIST) mission recommended by the National Research Council in the Earth Science Decadal Survey report to NASA and NOAA. The main focus of this instrument development, sponsored by the NASA Earth Science and Technology Office Instrument Incubator Program, is to demonstrate an approach for detailed monitoring of ice sheet, sea ice and glacier change from a spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Although it currently emphasizes polar-region cryosphere objectives, the SIMPL approach is also applicable in other applications including measuring changes in land topography, forest height and structure, and inland water and snow cover height and extent. SIMPL employs a short-pulse (1 nsec) fiber laser transmitters operating at 1064 nm and 532 nm, a beam splitter to divide the energy into four parallel beams displaced cross-track, single photon counting modules (SPCM) detectors, and high precision timing electronics to achieve < 15 cm range precision per single detected photon. Measurement of the backscatter energy with polarization parallel and perpendicular to the laser transmit pulse provides the depolarization ratio of the surface returns at 532 and 1064 nm, in order to differentiate surface types based on their scattering properties. Results of laboratory testing of a single beam breadboard and the design and implementation of the four-beam flight instrument will be described.
DE: 1243 Space geodetic surveys
DE: 1294 Instruments and techniques
SC: Earth and Space Science Informatics [IN]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting