Atmospheric temperature profiles from lidar measurements of rotational Raman and elastic scattering

Abstract

Criteria for optimizing system parameters in the lidar measurement of atmospheric temperature profiles from simultaneous Raman and elastic returns by use of a three-channel system are discussed and summarized. It is shown that the filter constraints of earlier techniques are removed thereby eliminating the need for the high rejection capability of spectrometers in this type of measurement. Also, SNR is improved, and a greater freedom in the choice of optimum Raman filters is demonstrated.