Abstract

Major advances have taken place in recent years in the development and application of airborne lidar systems in the measurement of water vapor (H₂O), ozone (O₃), and aerosols in various regions of the atmosphere. Solid state lasers are playing an important role in these investigations, and new lasers are under development that will further improve our measurement capabilities and permit global investigations from space. This paper describes current airborne lidar systems and presents results from recent field experiments. Future lidar applications with advanced solid state lasers are also discussed.

© 1995 Optical Society of America