After the record month of June with more than 270 hours of LIDAR observations, July started with two weeks of snow storms and cloudy sky.  As a LIDAR is an optical instrument which can be operated only when the sky is clear, LIDAR operators are dependent on the weather and we plan our “workday” based on the weather forecast.

If it is cloudy during the day but clear at night, we sleep in and work late. If the weather models suggest that the cloud layer breaks up early in the morning, we set our alarm clock to 2 am. In general, we try to run the LIDARs whenever the weather is good enough and sleep when the weather is bad. But what do we do when the weather does not allow us to run the LIDAR for two weeks? Do we go into hibernation and stay in bed for several days because there is nothing for us to do? – Certainly not! Read More