Space Lidar Developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center&#x2014;The First 20 Years

Xiaoli Sun; James B. Abshire; Jan F. McGarry; Gregory A. Neumann; James C. Smith; John F. Cavanaugh; David J. Smith; H. Jay Zwally; David E. Smith; Maria T. Zuber

doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2013.2259578

IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (Jan 2013)

Space Lidar Developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center—The First 20 Years

Xiaoli Sun,
James B. Abshire,
Jan F. McGarry,
Gregory A. Neumann,
James C. Smith,
John F. Cavanaugh,
David J. Smith,
H. Jay Zwally,
David E. Smith,
Maria T. Zuber

Affiliations

Xiaoli Sun: Solar System Exploration Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Greenbelt, MD, USA
James B. Abshire: Solar System Exploration Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Greenbelt, MD, USA
Jan F. McGarry: Solar System Exploration Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Greenbelt, MD, USA
Gregory A. Neumann: Solar System Exploration Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Greenbelt, MD, USA
James C. Smith: Instrument Systems and Technology Division, NASA GSFC, USA
John F. Cavanaugh: Instrument Systems and Technology Division, NASA GSFC, USA
David J. Smith: Solar System Exploration Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Greenbelt, MD, USA
H. Jay Zwally: Earth Science Division, NASA GSFC, USA
David E. Smith: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science (EAPS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
Maria T. Zuber: Department of EAPS, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2013.2259578
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 6, no. 3
pp. 1660 – 1675

Abstract

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During the past 20 years the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed five different lidar for space, and has successfully used them in orbital missions to map Mars, the Earth, the Moon and Mercury. Although similar in some ways, each of these lidar has had a different combination of measurement requirements, payload constraints, and operational environments. Together they have improved space-based laser measurement technologies and advanced planetary science. This paper gives a brief overview of these instruments, their measurement approaches and designs, and some highlights from their scientific observations.

Published in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing

ISSN: 1939-1404 (Print); 2151-1535 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Ocean engineering; Science: Physics: Geophysics. Cosmic physics
Website: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=4609443

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