Abstract

Experiments on earth-satellite-earth laser long-path absorption measurement of atmospheric trace species will be performed with the Retroreflector In Space (RIS) which is to be loaded on the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS). The ADEOS is a Japanese polar-orbit satellite which is scheduled for launch in early 1996. RIS is a single-element cube-corner retroreflector with an effective diameter of 0.5 m. In the RIS experiments, a laser beam is transmitted from a ground station, reflected by RIS, and received at the ground station. The absorption of atmospheric trace species is measured in the round-trip optical path.

© 1993 Optical Society of America