On this day back in 2018, I jumped on a plane to kick off what would ultimately be the most fun and rewarding experience of my life: a 14-month deployment to McMurdo Station to operate and maintain our two lidar systems which we use to study the properties and processes of the upper atmosphere. It’s… Read More
And no, I’m not talking about gravitational waves like those created by the collisions of blackholes and measured by the incredible LIGO instrument (Fun fact: LIGO is basically a gigantic Michelson interferometer which, on a much smaller scale, our group uses to measure the wavelengths of our lasers). I’m referring to atmospheric gravity waves which… Read More
This week we opened up the RDL to understand its anatomy and got much more power out! All in all the laser gods were pleased! First, we took the dye jet pump apart, cleaned it up, and added new dye bit by bit to get 20% transmission. Then Dr. Chu showed us how to adjust… Read More
With the start of the Fall 2021 semester, we’re finally back in the lab working on system development and training! Our lab goals this semester focus around the development of existing components into a working Sodium Doppler lidar. To do this, we must first train and get familiar with the systems after such a long… Read More
