Nicholas Beaird
Physical Oceanographer
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Friday, April 24, 2026, 3:10pm
Chase 105
Abstract
The global ocean observing system, a robust and critical backbone of scientific research and operational forecasting systems, is necessarily limited in its subsurface capability because observations are made by in-situ sensors. These contact sensors must profile vertically and be horizontally distributed in the ocean to map the ocean interior structure, and thus are slow and collect sparse observations relative to some important dynamical scales. Optical modalities can enable sensing through the air/sea interface, providing the potential for high area coverage rates aboard fast moving airborne platforms. Here we describe the design and modeled performance of a novel lidar system which exploits Brillouin backscattering to measure vertical sound speed profiles in the upper ocean. The ultra-sensitive wide-FOV lidar spectrometer design is based on an atomic dispersion interferometer and addresses key challenges that have hindered previous designs.
Bio
Nick is a physical oceanographer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. His work focuses on tactical oceanography and novel sensor development for maritime missions. In the past he has worked on ocean-glacier interactions in Greenland, and dense overflows across the Iceland-Faroe Ridge. Nick did his undergrad in Physics at Colby College, Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography at the University of Washington, and postdocs at WHOI and Oregon State University.
