Major Research Instrumentation: Puerto Rico Laser 

Introduction 

The Puerto Rico Atmospheric Major Research Laser Instrumentation Program (PR-LASER) is a $658,000 NSF Grant. It is a partnership between Universidad Metropolitana (UMET), the Arecibo Observatory (AO), and the NSF-funded CEDAR Resonance and Rayleigh Lidar Consortium Technology Center (CRRL/CTC), at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

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Objectives

• To enhance upper-mesospheric research activities using new laser technology at AO through the acquisition of a state-of-the-art pulsed alexandrite laser.  

• To improve data quality, system reliability, and to increase access to and training in the use of modern research instrumentation.

• To implement a research training program in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in optics with an emphasis on atmospheric remote sensing for students from pre-college through graduate school and science teachers from Puerto Rico at UMET’s Puerto Rico Optical Sciences Institute (PROptScI).

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