A lidar for large-scale droplet aerosol particle sensing in the atmosphere

Abstract

The presence of large-scale aerosol droplets in the urban atmosphere is often caused by violations of production cycles at industrial companies and may be an accident precursor (fires, explosions, etc.). The aerosol cloud boundaries and the location are easily defined by means of a lidar working at one wavelength. However, it is impossible to estimate the particle size distribution by means of an ordinary single wavelength lidar. We have developed a lidar with a spatial filter installed in the receiver allowing one to measure the power of returns due to multiple scattering. The aerosol detection efficiency of this lidar is discussed.