IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021 - 113

software, and CCSU had a license. In the spirit of the
EARLINET single-calculus chain approach, CCSU conducts
the CLidar data analysis for both institutions, thus
maintaining a single data analysis chain. Benefits of
this approach include consistent retrievals, cost savings
since other institutions have no need to purchase software,
and formation of links among students in research
groups from UB and CCSU working on joint projects and
papers. Laboratory space requirements were also minimal.
At CCSU, the CLidar laser transmitter is housed in
a mobile lidar lab (a 15-foot trailer with a roof hatch;
see Figures 1 and 2) while at UB the entire system (laser
and detector) is set up outside for data collection during
atmospheric research experiments. The UB system is not
only used at the main UB campus in Nassau, Bahamas,
but also at UB's Gerace Research Center in San Salvador,
Bahamas (Figure 3).
The system is robust and does not require special temperature-
or vibration-controlled environments. The detectors
at the CCSU and UB sites are located outside, far from
the transmitters. Students and faculty conduct experimental
measurements at both sites. At UB, the detector and transmitter
are set up in a sports field (Figure 4), and at CCSU
the detector is on a walkway near a student parking garage.
At CCSU, students and faculty also conduct instrumentdevelopment
research to optimize and expand the capabilities
of the lidar system and develop new systems. The stunningly
beautiful green laser beam attracts student interest
(Figure 5). Although Internet connections between the two
institutions are not always reliable, this is not an issue since
data are collected separately at each institution with local
equipment. Real-time data analysis is not required, and
data can be shared when Internet connections are stable.
The CLidar data from both sites are analyzed at CCSU.
CLidar and particle-counter data are combined as needed
for a particular study with freely available radiosonde and/
or solar radiometer data from nearby sites and/or freely
available NOAA Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian InteFIGURE
2. Nimmi Sharma (right) and a student with the CCSU laser
transmitter in the mobile lidar lab. (Photo courtesy of John Atashian.)
grated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) back-trajectory analyses. Joint
papers involving students and faculty from both institutions
have been published.
The model of sharing institutional expertise and maintaining
a single data analysis chain while each institution
has its own set of inexpensive lidar and associated
equipment has worked very well for the CCSU-UB remote
sensing partnership. It facilitated the swift development
of a lidar remote sensing research group at UB by
bypassing hurdles such as the need for large grant funding
for equipment, the need to develop inexpensive instrumentation
from scratch, and the need for time-consuming
FIGURE 1. Nimmi Sharma (second from right) and students
running CCSU's CLidar system in the mobile lidar lab.
JUNE 2021 IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE
FIGURE 3. A UB student running UB's CLidar system at Gerace
Research Center, San Salvador, Bahamas.
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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021

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