Optical sensors for airborne and ground-based applications are the focus of Ophir’s development and production efforts.

Sensors use light to interrogate the atmosphere, yielding range-resolved parameters, including:

• Water content
• Aerosol concentration and particle size
• Velocity
• Aerosol distribution in the atmosphere
• Temperature
• Visibility monitoring
• Pressure
• Trace gas concentration

Atmospheric sensing challenges Ophir is addressing are:

• Optical air data systems development
• Contrail detection systems
• Turbulence detection for air vehicles
• Airborne volcanic ash detection
• Airborne icing detection
• Winds, turbulence and temperature measurements for the atmospheric boundary layer

Lidar development includes several aspects of Ophir’s expertise:

• Active sensing—incoherent lidar
• Light scattering from aerosols and molecules—Rayleigh/Mie lidar