Space-Based Lidars from Optech

ORACLE Telescope Concept

ORACLE  -  Ozone DIAL Receiver Design

• Joint NASA/CSA study
• Satellite-based ozone DIAL system
• Global coverage from space
• Range-resolved measurements of ozone concentration in the atmosphere between 0 and 50 km
• Vertical and horizontal resolution unmatched by other spaceborne ozone detection methods

The Canadian team is designing the ORACLE receiver (telescope, secondary optics module, signal processing electronics).  The telescope is the largest ORACLE subsystem, designed to travel into space in a compact package and deploy once in orbit.

In the concept drawing at left, note:

• Deployed protective sunshades (brown panels)
• Deployed (rectangular) and central (hexagonal) telescope primary mirror segments (silver)
• Secondary mirror with support structure (projecting central tower).

Active, segmented, multi-element, test article for the telescope vision corrector

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has appointed Optech as the Canadian industrial lead on the basis of our pre-eminence in the design and fabrication of ground-based ozone DIALs, our strengths in high-technology work, and our successful record in challenging projects.

The American team, headed by NASA's Langley Research Center, is designing the transmitter.