Title: OAWL Systems from IIP to the ATHENA-OAWL Airborne Demonstrator
Presenting Author: Sara C Tucker
Organization: Ball Aerospace

Abstract:
The Optical Autocovariance Wind Lidar, in development at Ball Aerospace since 2003, has grown from an idea first proposed by Schwiesow and Mayor in 1995, to a breadboard concept, to a well-studied, understood, and proven system. ESTO awards (including IIP and ACTs) have enabled the design, build and demonstration of the first breadboard system and studies of the system capabilities, its limitations, and the potential impact a space-based OAWL system would have on numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecasting. With the objective of providing much needed space-based Doppler wind lidar data to the NWP models, the ATHENA-OAWL Earth Venture Mission concept was submitted to the EV-i2 AO in 2013 (Atmospheric Transport, Hurricanes, and Extratropical Numerical weAther prediction using the OAWL). The mission was not selected for flight, but Earth Venture Instrument Technology Development funding will help to raise the system TRL and prove out the two-look measurement approach from the high altitude NASA WB-57 aircraft under the ATHENA-OAWL Venture-Tech (AOVT) effort. The current OAWL configuration enables it to also deliver aerosol information along with the winds for chemical weather applications. Demonstration of both the aerosol and wind measurements will be provided on the ongoing HAWC-OAWL (HSRL for Aerosols, Winds, and Clouds using OAWL) IIP subsequent to the AOVT flight demonstrations.