Flight Tests of the DELICAT Airborne LIDAR System for Remote Clear Air Turbulence Detection

Abstract

An important aeronautics application of lidar is the airborne remote detection of Clear Air Turbulence which cannot be performed with onboard radar. We report on a DLR-developed lidar system for the remote detection of such turbulent areas in the flight path of an aircraft. The lidar, consisting of a high-power UV laser transmitter and a direct detection system, was installed on a Dutch research aircraft. Flight tests executed in 2013 demonstrated the performance of the lidar system to detect local subtle variations in the molecular backscatter coefficient indicating the turbulence some 10 to 15 km ahead.