Abstract

A lidar system may measure the aerosol backscatter coefficient β [m^-1sr^-1] in many different ways: 1) the lidar may be continuous-wave (CW) or pulsed; 2) the lidar may employ direct detection or heterodyne detection; 3) the laser beam may be focused or collimated; and 4) the measurement volume may contain numerous aerosol particles (volume mode – VM), a few particles, or only one particle at a time (single particle mode - SPM). β is defined as the fraction of incident electromagnetic energy at wavelength λ [m] which is scattered by atmospheric aerosol particles in the backward direction per unit solid angle, per unit atmospheric length. It is assumed to be constant over the measurement volume of interest.

© 1991 Optical Society of America