Dr. Jianping Mao Profile

Dr. Jianping Mao

at NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (10)

PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | November 20, 2017

LIDAR technology for measuring trace gases on Mars and Earth

Proc. SPIE. 10565, International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2010

KEYWORDS: Methane, Carbon dioxide, LIDAR, Sensors, Gases, Carbon dioxide lasers, Clouds, Oxygen, Mars, Absorption

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Trace gases and their isotopic ratios in planetary atmospheres offer important but subtle clues as to the origins of a planet's atmosphere, hydrology, geology, and potential for biology. An orbiting laser remote sensing instrument is capable of measuring trace gases on a global scale with unprecedented accuracy, and higher spatial resolution that can be obtained by passive instruments.

For Earth we have developed laser technique for the remote measurement of the tropospheric CO2, O2, and CH4 concentrations from space. Our goal is to develop a space instrument and mission approach for active CO2 measurements. Our technique uses several on and off-line wavelengths tuned to the CO2 and O2 absorption lines. This exploits the atmospheric pressure broadening of the gas lines to weigh the measurement sensitivity to the atmospheric column below 5 km and maximizes sensitivity to CO2 changes in the boundary layer where variations caused by surface sources and sinks are largest. Simultaneous measurements of O2 column use a selected region in the Oxygen A-band. Laser altimetry and atmospheric backscatter can also be measured simultaneously, which permits determining the surface height and measurements made to thick cloud tops and through aerosol layers.

We use the same technique but with a different transmitter at 1.65 um to measure methane concentrations. Methane is also a very important trace gas on earth, and a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2 on a per molecule basis. Accurate, global observations are needed in order to better understand climate change and reduce the uncertainty in the carbon budget. Although carbon dioxide is currently the primary greenhouse gas of interest, methane can have a much larger impact on climate change. Methane levels have remained relatively constant over the last decade but recent observations in the Arctic have indicated that levels may be on the rise due to permafrost thawing. NASA’s Decadal Survey underscored the importance of Methane as a greenhouse gas and called for a mission to measure CO2, CO and CH4. Methane has absorptions in the mid-infrared (3.3 um) and the near infrared (1.65 um). The 3.3 um spectral region is ideal for planetary (Mars) Methane monitoring, but unfortunately is not suitable for earth monitoring since the Methane absorption lines are severely interfered with by water. The near infra-red overtones of Methane at 1.65 um are relatively free of interference from other atmospheric species and are suitable for Earth observations. The methane instrument uses Optical Parametric Generation (OPG) along with sensitive detectors to achieve the necessary sensitivity. Our instrument generates and detects tunable laser signals in the 3.3 or 1.65 um spectral regions with different detectors in order to measure methane on Earth or Mars. For Mars, the main interest in methane is its importance as a biogenic marker.

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SPIE Journal Paper | September 1, 2017

Methane optical density measurements with an integrated path differential absorption lidar from an airborne platform

Riris, Haris , Numata, Kenji , Wu, Stewart , Gonzalez, Brayler , Rodriguez, Michael , Scott, Stan , Kawa, Stephan , Mao, Jianping

JARS Vol. 11 Issue 03

KEYWORDS: LIDAR, Optical parametric oscillators, Absorption, Transmitters, Methane, Sensors, Absorbance, Optical testing, Clouds, Receivers

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 5, 2017

Methane measurements from space: technical challenges and solutions

Proc. SPIE. 10191, Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXII

KEYWORDS: Carbon, Transmitters, Beam splitters, Methane, Optical parametric oscillators, LIDAR, Sensors, Spectroscopy, Laser applications, Receivers, Fiber lasers, Climate change, Airborne laser technology, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | October 24, 2012

Airborne measurement of atmospheric methane concentration using pulsed lidar

Proc. SPIE. 8511, Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XX

KEYWORDS: Carbon, Methane, Carbon dioxide, LIDAR, Climate change, Infrared radiation, Earth's atmosphere, Electronic support measures, Atmospheric optics, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 14, 2012

Ground and airborne methane measurements with an optical parametric amplifier

Proc. SPIE. 8379, Laser Radar Technology and Applications XVII

KEYWORDS: Methane, Optical amplifiers, LIDAR, Sensors, Optical testing, Earth's atmosphere, Nonlinear crystals, Signal detection, Atmospheric optics, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | August 20, 2011

Lidar technology for measuring trace gases on Mars and Earth

Proc. SPIE. 8192, International Symposium on Photoelectronic Detection and Imaging 2011: Laser Sensing and Imaging; and Biological and Medical Applications of Photonics Sensing and Imaging

KEYWORDS: Methane, Carbon dioxide, LIDAR, Spectrometers, Gases, Climate change, Mars, Earth's atmosphere, Signal detection, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | November 2, 2010

A lidar approach to measure CO2 concentrations from space for the ASCENDS Mission

Proc. SPIE. 7832, Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing VI

KEYWORDS: Carbon dioxide, LIDAR, Sensors, Carbon dioxide lasers, Receivers, Clouds, Oxygen, Semiconductor lasers, Pulsed laser operation, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | October 17, 2007

A laser sounder for measuring atmospheric trace gases from space

Proc. SPIE. 6750, Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing III

KEYWORDS: Signal to noise ratio, Fabry–Perot interferometers, Sensors, Spectroscopy, Gases, Climate change, Gas lasers, Carbon monoxide, Atmospheric modeling, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | February 16, 2004

Measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide column from space using reflected sunlight

Proc. SPIE. 5235, Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere VIII

KEYWORDS: Scattering, Sensors, Aerosols, Clouds, Spectral resolution, Carbon monoxide, Atmospheric sensing, Atmospheric particles, Atmospheric modeling, Absorption

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PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | August 10, 1994

Electrodynamics of oxide superconductors

Proc. SPIE. 2158, Oxide Superconductor Physics and Nano-Engineering

KEYWORDS: Oxides, Thin films, Crystals, Resistance, Magnetism, Superconductors, Microwave radiation, Electrodynamics, Superconductivity, Temperature metrology

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Showing 5 of 10 publications

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