A bistatic lidar receiver to observe lower tropospheric aerosol properties
Document ID: 308
Stevens, Timothy D.1
Philbrick, C. Russell1
1 The Pennsylvania State University, ARL/PSU LIDAR Laboratory, University Park, PA, U.S.A.
Presented: The 18th Annual Conference on Atmospheric Transmission Models, June 6-8, 1995
Abstract
The scattering of optical radiation in the visible, ultraviolet and infrared regions of the spectrum has a major impact on commercial air traffic and on many military systems. It has become critically important, with modern systems, that the electro-optical environment be properly characterized. We have been able to demonstrate that the rotational and vibrational Raman backscatter can be used to determine the extinction profile through optical scattering regions such as clouds. But a method is still needed to determine extinction profiles within the first several hundred meters above the Earth's surface through aerosol layers.
We have developed a bistatic remote receiver that utilizes a linear photodiode array to image the radiation scattered from any high power CW or pulsed laser system. By observing the angular scattering variation from a given aerosol layer, additional information contained in the scattering angle phase function can be obtained. A technique has been developed to estimate particle size and distribution widths (of spherical scatters) by placing two or more of these instruments perpendicular and parallel to the scattering plane. Polarizers are also used to measure the cross polarization to determine the amount of multiple scattering and nonsphericity of the particles in the scattering volume. The information on the particle size and distribution width along with absolute extinction measurements from Raman lidar should allow extension of the extinction and transmission calculations to a wider range of wavelengths.
| Citation: | "A bistatic lidar receiver to observe lower tropospheric aerosol properties", Stevens, T. D., C. R. Philbrick, Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference on Atmospheric Transmission Models, U.S. Air Force, April 1996, pp. 242 - 247, PL-TR-96-2080, Special Reports, No. 278 |