OTTER – a new instrument for boundary layer turbulence profiling between drones and the ground

Direct measurement of the vertical profiles of turbulent fluxes in the atmospheric boundary layer is crucial for understanding of surface/atmosphere processes. Existing robust instrumentation such as eddy covariance provides only a single point measurement near the ground, with long averaging times. Profiles can be obtained by radiosonde, but with limited temporal resolution. Remote sensing is possible, for example by combining various types of LIDAR, however deployment is limited by high Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) requirements.Here we present a new instrument, OTTER (Optical Turbulence for Tracing Energy in the atmospheRe) which aims to provide profiles of turbulent quantities in the boundary layer with high vertical (10 m) and temporal (