Design and development of an elastic-scattering lidar for the study of the atmospheric structure

Abstract

Light detection and ranging (lidar) technology has become a powerful tool to investigate the structure and air quality of the atmosphere with satisfactory spatial and temporal resolution. Due to its importance for atmospheric sciences this work presents the development and testing of a lidar based on the atmospheric elastic-scattering in Mexico. After a description of the elastic-lidar, a simple lidar signal processing scheme is presented. Quantitative evidence of potential applications of the lidar described in this work is demonstrated by a set of zenithal probing of the atmosphere over the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico.