The Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) mounted alongside the HOLODEC under the wing of the GV.
This instrument, which is an updated version of the FSSP, uses a focused beam from a diode laser and detects light scattered from that beam by cloud droplets. Electronic and optical components define a sample volume centered in the probe aperture and use the pulses of scattered light to count and size individual cloud droplets. Detailed information on this probe is available at the manufacturer's web site and will not be duplicated here except in cursory fashion or to explain aspects particular to the NCAR/RAF application of the instrument. See in particular this section of the manufacturer's description for the optical configuration of the instrument, which differs from that of the predecessor FSSP in some key ways:
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