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Tunable diode laser IR spectrometer for in situ measurements of the gas phase composition and particle size distribution of Titan's atmosphereA new instrument, the Probe Infrared Laser Spectrometer (PIRLS), is described for in situ sensing of the gas composition and particle size distribution of Titan's atmosphere on the NASA/ESA Cassini mission. For gas composition measurements, several narrow-band (0.0001/cm) tunable lead-salt diode lasers operating near 80 K at selected mid-IR wavelengths are directed over a path length defined by a small reflector extending over the edge of the probe spacecraft platform; volume mixing ratios of 10 to the -9th should be measurable for several species of interest. A cloud-particle-size spectrometer using a diode laser source at 780 nm shares the optical path and deployed reflector; a combination of imaging and light scattering techniques is used to determine sizes of haze and cloud particles and their number density as a function of altitude.
Document ID
19900039316
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Webster, Christopher R.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Sander, Stanley P.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Beer, Reinhard
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
May, Randy D.
(JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)
Knollenberg, Robert G.
(Particle Measuring Systems, Inc. Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1990
Publication Information
Publication: Applied Optics
Volume: 29
ISSN: 0003-6935
Subject Category
Lasers And Masers
Accession Number
90A26371
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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