Jenoptik CHM15k Lidar Ceilometer

Currently mounted on the back of the MoDLS platform, a Jenoptik CHM15k ceilometer is used to provide attenuated volume backscatter and cloud base height (up to 3 layers). Measurement time and vertical resolution is adjustable. The typical configuration used on MoDLS is 15-meter vertical resolution from 10 m to 15 km AGL and 15-second time averaging. The ceilometer is not only used for cloud property detection but is also sensitive to aerosol scattering which can provide estimates of mixed layer heights and aerosol depth information.

• Wavelength: 1064 nm
• Measurement Range: 5m-15km
• Gate Spacing: 5-150 m (Adjustable)
• Detectable Layers: 3
• Time Resolution: Adjustable (Currently 15 seconds)
• Beam Divergence: < 0.3 mrad

Ceilometer data showing aerosols in the boundary layer (BL) at night and a building convective BL throughout the day.

The MIPS Ceilometer sees smoke from local fires at night.