The Lidar Research Lab team. Front row (L to R): Richard Collins, Rahsha Kerven, Michael Roddewig, Jack Kendall, Back row (L to R): Vishnu Kumar, Kylie Lambries, Jintai Li, Satyaki Das
Welcome to the Lidar Research Lab’s webpage at the Geophysical Institute (GI) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). The Lidar Research Lab (LRL) is located at Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR), Chatanika Alaska. Our research group studies the Arctic middle and upper atmosphere with the goal of better understanding weather, climate and space weather and the ocean and inland waters to improve our knowledge of aquatic ecosystems. Our research is primarily based on lidar (laser radar) atmospheric observations that we make at the LRL-PFRR, system development at the GI Space and Atmosphere Instrumentation Laboratory (GI-SAIL) at the Elvey Building on the Troth Yeddha’ campus, and lidar and passive imaging studies of the ocean and lakes that we make from boats, drones, and planes.
For recent results, please visit our news page. For examples of our current research projects, please visit our research page. You can meet the members of the research team at our team page. Please feel free to contact us for more information. Our contact information (location, phone, snail mail…) is on the contact page.
Students who are interested in joining the group can learn more at the students page. Students are invited to contact any team member to get further information about research projects and available positions.
We acknowledge and thank the general public for their support of our research through public funding, grants and contracts.
The photographs below give a flavor of our work.
Thank you for visiting our lab.
Dr. Roddewig deploys a Sea-Bird ac-s spectral absorption and attenuation sensor.
Dr. Roddewig samples water from a horizontal Niskin bottle as part of a study on the use of polarimetric imagers to better measure chlorophyll in inland water bodies.
A prototype fluorometer to detect the presence of benthic phytoplankton operating in the lab. (J. Kendall)
Rayleigh lidar beam over Lidar Research Laboratory, Poker Flat Research Range (T. Matsuo).
Lidar Research Laboratory at Poker Flat Research Range (M. Pierce).
Noctilucent clouds at LRL-PFRR in August 2005 (R. Collins).
UAF graduate students , Jintai Li and Jennifer Alspach, working on lidar telescope at LRL-PFRR (R. Collins).
UAF Society of Physics Students, Riley Troyer, Chris Peters, Anders Parrott, and Mikayla Grunin visit LRL-PFRR (R. Collins).
Nd:YAG laser operating at LRL-PFRR (R. Collins).
Rayleigh lidar operating in LRL-PFRR (R. Collins).
Sodium resonance wind-temperature lidar operating at LRL-PFRR (J. Alspach).
Pulse Dye Amplifier for SRWTL (J. Li).
Frequency shifter for SRWTL. Shifetr uses acousto-optic modulators to shift laser frequency +- 630 MHz (J. Alspach).
CONE ion-gauge ignited in test vessel during testing for MTeX at University of Rostock Leibniz Institute (R. Collins).
Ion-gauge being integrated in MTeX payload at NASA Wallops Flight Facility (B. Bland).
UAF graduate student, Colin Triplett, working with MTeX payload at NASA-WFF (B. Bland).
Timelapse photo of MTeX and MIST rocket launches at PFRR (J. Adkins).
Lidar beams and chemical release during SuperSoaker investigation (R. McCoy).
Steerable Rayleigh lidar operating during SuperSoaker investigation. Beam is directed into sky by steerable flat mirror (M. Pierce).
