Development of Ti:sapphire laser for airborne water vapor DIAL

Summary form only given. Airborne and spaceborne water vapor differential absorption lidars (DIALs) are very useful for understanding the global hydrological cycle. From the system requirements, the output wavelength accuracy, multi-wavelength operation and high repetition rate operation are required to obtain high measurement accuracy and high spatial resolution. To realize these requirements, we have developed a high repetition rate wavelength switching Ti:sapphire laser by means of a three wavelength switching injection seeder and rapid cavity tuning corresponding to the seeding wavelength. The system consists of KTP-SHG and conductive-cooled diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YLF MOPA system for pumping, a three wavelength switching injection seeder unit and a gain-switched Ti:sapphire laser.