Glossary – L

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L1

Lagrange point 1

La Niña

Cold-water conditions off the western tropical coasts of the Americas, occurring irregularly and occasionally following El Niño conditions, caused by stiffening trade winds and regenerated fisheries, drought in the central and eastern Pacific, and rain in the western Pacific.

Laser Altimeter

Uses a laser that transmits short pulses of infrared light and/or visible light. Photons reflected back to the spacecraft from the surface of the Earth and from the atmosphere, including the inside of clouds, will be collected in a telescope. The height measurement from the altimeter to the ocean surface is useful in various oceanographic applications. Determination of sea surface topography is useful for marine gravity determinations, seafloor bathymetry estimations, and dynamic circulation of the oceans.

LEAG

Lunar Exploration Analysis Group

LEO

Low Earth Orbit

Light Detection and Ranging

An active remote sensing system that can be operated in either a profiling or scanning mode using pulses of light to illuminate the terrain.

LISA

Lasr Interferometer Space Antenna

LISM

Local Interstellar Medium

LPI

The Lunar Planetary Institute

LPRP

Lunar Precursor Robotic Program

LSSO

LWS

Living With a Star