Scattering light

The Romanian National Institute for Research and Development in Optoelectronics will head the new Multiply project to develop a novel airborne multiwavelength high spectral resolution lidar. The instrument will be designed to probe the atmosphere from an aircraft to detect and map aerosols.

Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere. Since they scatter and absorb sunlight, we notice their presence when they are sufficiently large because they cause haze and redden sunrises and sunsets.

A better understanding of the effect aerosols have on the climate and weather is an objective for a number of future ESA satellite missions, such as EarthCARE, Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5. The new airborne instrument is expected to play an important role in helping to prepare these missions and in validating their measurements from space.