Lidar system located in La Paz (UMSA campus)

Contact person in LPz: Ricardo Forno

Elastic lidar system (LIPAZ)

The lidar is installed at the campus of the University Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz (about 22 km in a straight line from the Chacaltaya GAW station). The system transmitter and receiver are set in a coaxial configuration which, in addition to zenithal measurements, allows angular measurements (or scanning). The transmitter consists of a Nd:YAG laser emitting 80 mJ pulses at a wavelength of 532 nm (20Hz) and a 5x beam expander. The  receiver is made with a Newtonian telescope (f =700 mm, diameter=250 mm) that collects the backscattered light, followed by an optic detector which collimates, filters (1 nm) and focuses the light beams on a photomultiplier (PMT). This detector converts the backscattered light signal into an electrical signal, whose intensity and time delay is stored in a matrix for subsequent analysis. The data acquisition process is performed by means of a Tektronix DPO3014 oscilloscope controlled by the GPIB port and a program developed in Labview.  The lidar operates in regular basis once a week (usually on Monday mornings, at the same time of radiosonde launches) and for longer periods for specific campaigns.