Editing Lidar (section)

===Physics and astronomy===

A worldwide network of observatories uses [[Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment|lidars to measure the distance to reflectors placed on the Moon]], allowing the position of the Moon to be measured with millimeter precision and [[tests of general relativity]] to be done. [[Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter|MOLA]], the [[Mars]] Orbiting Laser Altimeter, used a lidar instrument in a Mars-orbiting satellite (the NASA [[Mars Global Surveyor]]) to produce a spectacularly precise global topographic survey of the red planet. Laser altimeters produced global elevation models of Mars, the Moon (Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA)), and Mercury (Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), NEAR–Shoemaker Laser Rangefinder (NLR)).<ref name="Hargitai 2019 147–174">{{Citation|last1=Hargitai|first1=Henrik|title=Methods in Planetary Topographic Mapping: A Review|date=2019|work=Planetary Cartography and GIS|pages=147–174|editor-last=Hargitai|editor-first=Henrik|series=Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography|publisher=Springer International Publishing|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-62849-3_6|isbn=978-3-319-62849-3|last2=Willner|first2=Konrad|last3=Buchroithner|first3=Manfred|s2cid=133855780}}</ref> Future missions will also include laser altimeter experiments such as the Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) as part of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission.<ref name="Hargitai 2019 147–174"/>

In September, 2008, the NASA [[Phoenix (spacecraft)|''Phoenix'' lander]] used lidar to detect snow in the atmosphere of Mars.<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080929.html NASA. 'NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past' ''NASA.gov'' (29 September 2008)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727085221/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080929.html |date=27 July 2012 }}. Retrieved 9 November 2008.</ref>

In atmospheric physics, lidar is used as a remote detection instrument to measure densities of certain constituents of the middle and upper atmosphere, such as [[potassium]], [[sodium]], or molecular [[nitrogen]] and [[oxygen]]. These measurements can be used to calculate temperatures. Lidar can also be used to measure wind speed and to provide information about vertical distribution of the [[aerosol]] particles.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP)|url=http://www-calipso.larc.nasa.gov/about/payload.php#CALIOP|publisher=NASA|access-date=16 August 2015}}</ref>

At the [[Joint European Torus|JET]] [[nuclear fusion]] research facility in the UK near [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon]], Oxfordshire, lidar [[Thomson scattering]] is used to determine [[electron]] density and temperature profiles of the [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]].<ref>[http://www.jet.efda.org/pages/focus/lidar/index.html CW Gowers. ' Focus On : Lidar-Thomson Scattering Diagnostic on JET' ''JET.EFDA.org'' (undated)]. Retrieved 8 August 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918224524/http://www.jet.efda.org/pages/focus/lidar/index.html|date=September 18, 2007}}</ref>