The purpose of the ACLAIM program is ultimately to establish the viability of light detection and ranging (lidar) as a forward-looking sensor for turbulence.

The goals of this fight test are to:

1. demonstrate that the ACLAIM lidar system operates reliably in a fight test environment
2. measure the performance of the lidar as a function of the aerosol backscatter coefficient
3. use the lidar system to measure atmospheric turbulence and compare these measurements to onboard gust measurements
4. make measurements of the aerosol backscatter coefficient, its probability distribution, and spatial distribution.