SODIUM LASER BEACON MONITORING

A Survey of related activity worldwide

Sodium Layer Monitoring

-ALFA LIDAR experiment
-Imperial College measurements of Sodium variability
-The University of Illinois Sodium Lidar at Hawaii and at Arecibo
-Sodium Layer density measurements of FISAT group in Brazil, and the MULTIPHOT campaigns
-Researchers investigate Sodium
-Arecibo Observatory (NAIC) Radar monitoring
-Durham Space Science Center Sporadic Atom Layer (SAL) measurements of sodium layer density with lidar and radar at Arecibo.
-Center for Astronomical Adaptive Optics: measurements of the Atomic Sodium Column Density
-Japanese PSMOS observation plan during Leonids 1998 and 1999.
-University of Western Ontario Purple Crow Lidar

LGS Experiments

-Not enough stars in the sky, report on Gemini South LGS campaign by A. Tokovinin, CTIO Newsletter, June 2001
-First Sodium Laser Beacon at La Palma ING Newsletter, March 2000
-ChAOS Laser Beacon at Appache Point Observatory and in many other places
-Los Alamos simulations of sodium guide stars for adaptive optics systems
-Lawrence Livermore LGS program
-Observatory of Lyon polychromatic laser guide star
-Center for Astronomical Adaptive Optics: First astronomical images with a laser beacon

Current and Projected Facilities

-Max Planck Institute ALFA laser system at Calar Alto.
-ESO: Max Planck Institute PARSEC laser system for ESO Adaptive Optics. Feasibility study of an off-axis LGS monitoring system (PDF)
-Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Sodium Guide Star Facility at Lick Observatory.

Bibliography

-Ageorges N., Hubin N., 2000, A&ASS 144, 533-540 Atmospheric sodium monitor for Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics, see also other related publications.
-Research and Training Network at Lyon Observatory and at ESO
-Special Issue on ALFA Experiment: Experimental Astronomy 10, 2000
-Gemini archives, updates and bibliography
-LLNL LGS publications
-Colorado State University LIDAR Research
-Eight-year climatology of nocturnal temperature and sodium density in the mesopause region (80 to 105 km) over Fort Collins, CO (41º N, 105º W), Geophys. Res. Ltrs. Vol. 27 , No. 20 , p. 3289 (2000GL003825); She, C. Y. ; Chen, Songsheng ; Hu, Zhilin ; Sherman, James ; Vance, J. D. ; Vasoli, Vince ; White, M. A. ; Yu, Jirong ; Krueger, David W. 2000
-Laser guide star adaptive optics: measuring the sodium column density using a magneto-optical filter, PATRIARCHI P., CACCIANI A (PDF)
- First mesopause temperature profiles from a fixed southern hemisphere site, GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 26, NO. 12, JUNE 15, 1999 B. R. Clemesha, I. Veselovskii, P. P. Batista, M. P. P. M. Jorge and D. M. Simonich Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, C. P. 515, S. J. dos Campos, SP, Brazil
-ESO/ESA topical meeting Sonthofen 1998
-Laser Applications in Remote Sensing