Abstract

Convection in the planetary boundary layer produces horizontal as well as vertical inhomogeneities in the aerosol distribution. An aircraft borne lidar can be configured to measure returns ahead, below, and behind the aircraft. The lidar returns from a given volume element are determined by the backscatter coefficient of that element and the optical thickness between the lidar and the scattering volume. Although the optical thickness in the three directions may differ, the measurements are sufficiently redundant to allow the derivation of maps of the horizontal and vertical distribution of the extinction coefficient. Results of numerical simulation of measurements from a tomographic lidar are presented. The effects of random and systematic errors on the retrieved extinction coefficients are discussed.

© 1984 Optical Society of America

Airborne high spectral resolution lidar for measuring aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficients

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