ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
Photo
European Space Agency
PIERCING through the winter sky, this green light looks like part of a dazzling natural phenomenon. In fact, the strikingly clear single beam is from a laser fired at the European Space Agency’s research station in Antarctica to probe atmospheric conditions, including the impact of pollutants.
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The pulsed laser is part of the Concordia station’s Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) instruments, and it is emitted for 60 seconds every 5 minutes during winter there. LIDAR works like radar, but uses reflected light rather than radio waves to sense. Researchers at what is the world’s most remote research station use it to probe our atmosphere’s boundary layer, which extends from the ground to around 1 kilometre up.
The instrument directs the laser within this section and uses scattered light to measure the likes of temperature, cloud formation and aerosol particles.
While greenhouse gases warm the planet, chlorofluorocarbons – long-lived chemicals that came from sources such as spray cans – degrade the ozone layer, which helps protect the surface from UV radiation. Both effects, mostly human created, influence the atmospheric boundary layer and contribute to climate change at the surface. The conditions in Antarctica make the boundary layer easier to study.
ESA released this picture as its human space flight and robotic explorations image of the week.
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