Abstract

The convolution effect in aerosol backscattered CO₂ coherent lidar returns caused by the long tail of the laser pulse is analyzed by modifying the original lidar equation and introducing a correction function C_r(R). The characteristics of the correction function and its effect on differential absorption lidar water vapor measurements are investigated for coherent lidars. A deconvolution technique is developed consisting of a leastsquares fitting and iteration procedure for retrieval of the mean value of the atmospheric backscattering coefficient β and a reverse filtering procedure for estimating the fluctuation components of the β profile. Data obtained with the WPL coherent CO₂ lidar are reanalyzed using the above method, giving improved estimates of the structures and the mean water vapor content.

© 1988 Optical Society of America

Correction function for the lidar equation and some techniques for incoherent CO₂ lidar data reduction

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