Daylight measurements of mesopause temperature and vertical wind with the mobile scanning iron lidar

We report on what we believe to be the first continuous daytime measurements of temperature and vertical wind with a mobile scanning iron lidar. The favorable combination of low backscatter coefficient, high number density, narrow resonance line, and strong Fraunhofer line allows nearly background-free observations during daylight. Owing to the low backscatter coefficient at 386 nm the Fe lidar can operate at a field of view of 54 mu rad, which permits efficient spectral filtering with a compact double etalon. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America