A Doppler lidar for measuring winds in the middle atmosphere

International audienceThe possibility to measure winds in the middle atmosphere with a Doppler lidar has just been demonstrated. It is aimed to study the wave‐mean flow interaction, when used in association with the Rayleigh lidar providing density and temperature profiles and their fluctuations. The new Doppler lidar relies on the Rayleigh scattering from air molecules and is designed to cover the height range 25‐60 km, a region where radars cannot operate. The Doppler shift of the backscattered echo is measured by inter‐comparing the signal detected through each of two high‐resolution, narrow band‐pass, Fabry‐Perot interferometers tuned on either side of the emitted laser line