The Atmospheric Visibility Monitoring (AVM) project gathers data on the transmission of light through the atmosphere. These data are measured and collected at autonomous observatories using stellar photometric techniques. The information gathered is used to build statistical models that assess the quality of future space-to-ground optical communication links. The first of the three currently running AVM observatories became operational in 1994. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is upgrading all three observatories. The upgrade includes new Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imagers, Windows NT-based computers and new control software. The new CCDs improve the following: near IR performance, daylight photometry, pixel field-of-view, intensity resolution and signal-to-noise ratios. Employing these new CCDs requires upgrading the CPU, operating system and control software. Together these changes improve the quality of future data obtained and processed by the AVM system.

Date Published: 26 April 1999
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 3615, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XI, (26 April 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.346193

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3615:
Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XI
G. Stephen Mecherle, Editor(s)