LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is an optical remote sensing technology that measures properties of scattered light. While the radar transmits radio-signals, the lidar transmits laser signals.When these light signals return to the transmitter, they may reveal information about range, speed, rotation, chemical composition and concentration of a distant target depending on the construction- in other words information important to the project.
"This technology is absolutely crucial to the project. Together with the other instrumentation in the aircraft, the lidars secure the quality and precision of the data, and thus our analyses and models", said project manager Jon Egill Kristjansson.
The prevalent method to gather information about an object, phenomenon or surface is to use laser pulses. Similar to the radar technology, which uses radio waves instead of light, data about an object is determined by measuring the time delay between transmission of a pulse and detection of the reflected signal.
At the same time, the lidar technology has a special ability to reflect information on for example meteorological phenomena because of the wavelength of the signals used. Hence, the technology is used by different organizations concerned with gathering such information, for instance NASA.
Altogether, this provides the basis of the data in the IPY-Thorpex project.
The lidar explained: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar
