It is very critical to provide high-accuracy, high-precision, and fast measurements for research aircraft platforms. The research aircraft that we frequently work with is the National Science Foundation (NSF) Gulfstream-V (GV) aircraft, hosted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) / Research Aviation Facility at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Aircraft in Broomfield, Colorado.
Since 2008, I have been working with the Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) hygrometer, which is a near-infrared, open-path laser hygrometer that works at two wavelengths to provide a full profile of water vapor measurements from the surface the the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
In the summer of 2016, my group collaborated with several scientists at NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory and established a new calibration system based on the environmental chamber at the Foothills Laboratory. We were able to provide stable, consistent, and semi-automated calibration for pre-/post-campaign calibrations of the VCSEL hygrometer.
