The Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) is being developed by NASA/Langley Research Center for a series of flights on the space shuttle beginning in 1994. Employing a three-wavelength Nd:YAG laser and a 1-m-diameter telescope, the system is a test-bed for the development of technology required for future operational spaceborne lidars. The system has been designed to observe clouds, tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols, characteristics of the planetary boundary layer, and stratospheric density and temperature perturbations with much greater resolution than is available from current orbiting sensors. In addition to providing unique datasets on these phenomena, the data obtained will be useful in improving retrieval algorithms currently in use. Observations of clouds and the planetary boundary layer will aid in the development of global climate model (GCM) parameterizations. This article briefly describes the LITE program and discusses the types of scientific investigations planned for the first flight.
1NASA/Langley Research Center, Atmospheric Sciences Division, Hampton, Virginia
2Oregon State University, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, Oregon
3University of Illinois, Department of Electrical Engineering, Urbana, Illinois
4Atmospheric Environmental Services, Center for Atmospheric Research Experiments, Egbert, Ontario, Canada
5Science and Technology Corporation, Hampton, Virginia
6NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
7Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
8CSIRO, Division of Atmospheric Physics, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia
9Colorado State University, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Fort Collins, Colorado
10University of Arizona, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tucson, Arizona
