Exelis and NASA complete flight campaign tests of carbon dioxide measuring instrument

Active LIDAR from space would contribute to long-term study of global CO₂

ROCHESTER, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– ITT Exelis (NYS: XLS) and the NASA Langley Research Center completed a flight campaign in March that measured carbon dioxide over various surfaces and conditions as a step toward taking active global measurements from space.

Using a NASA DC-8 aircraft and an instrument built by Exelis called the Multifunctional Fiber Laser LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), the team took carbon dioxide measurements from various, challenging environments. The information was gathered from high altitudes over fresh and aged snow surfaces, ocean surfaces in high winds, tall coastal and forest conditions, and in the presence of thin cirrus clouds.

“The science community has stated clearly, the ability to improve climate models depends directly on our ability to obtain more accurate CO₂ measurements,” said Eric Webster, vice president of Exelis weather systems. “Using our active LIDAR system from space would enable significant improvements in global mapping of carbon sources and sinks and thus improve climate models. Results over several years and dozens of flights, including this campaign, prove our solution works and would provide decision-makers with more accurate information.”

In 2007, the National Research Council released its decadal survey recommending the use of an active LIDAR system to provide new information on carbon dioxide processes over all regions of the Earth, during night and day. NASA Langley Research Center is evaluating the Exelis instrument to determine its effectiveness for the mission. The Exelis instrument is based on commercially viable fiber communications technology, which makes it lower cost and risk than other approaches.

Using active LIDAR is important for researchers because current passive instruments for measuring CO₂ from space cannot take measurements at night, at high latitudes where major cities are located, or through clouds, which limits effectiveness. Active instruments also take more accurate measurements in the lower atmosphere where increases and decreases in carbon dioxide take place more often.

Exelis has won three related technology development grants from the NASA Earth Science Technology Office, and is on its ninth task under an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with the NASA Langley Research Center for evaluation of LIDAR technology. The most recent flight campaign also included …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance