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Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Campus Access Master's Report

Degree Name

Master of Science in Applied Physics (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Physics

Advisor 1

Claudio Mazzoleni

Committee Member 1

Jacek Borysow

Committee Member 2

Shawn Brueshaber

Abstract

Obtaining accurate measurements of water vapor concentrations is essential for understanding many atmospheric phenomena, such as cloud formation and radiative balance. The ability to do so while minimizing direct contact with the system through remote sensing is especially valuable. With this project, we continued the development of a tunable diode laser hygrometer that provides highly accurate, path-integrated measurements of water vapor concentration. This system utilizes a balanced photodiode circuit to eliminate the power ramp intrinsic to the diode laser wavelength tuning process. The results of this laboratory work show excellent agreement between transmission measurements and simulations based on the HIgh-resolution TRANsmission molecular absorption database (HITRAN). The benchtop system characterized and described here will be packaged into a laboratory instrument to be used with MTU’s Pi Cloud Chamber. Upon completion the hygrometer should be widely applicable to many studies in clouds and aerosol research. The ability to use simulation to bypass much of the need for calibration should also allow for rapid deployment.

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