Abstract

An eye-safe lidar system has been developed for the purpose of monitoring the vertical distribution of boundary layer aerosols in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of an intensive series of air pollution measurements to be conducted during the summer of 1992. The system has a Raman-shifted Nd:YAG source laser at 1.54 μm wavelength operating at 4 Hz pulse repetition frequency with a pulse energy of 60 mJ. In order to cover an expected range of variation in boundary layer thickness from 50 m to 4 km, the system has two receivers, one with a 46 mm aperture and a 105 mm focal length and another with a 150 mm aperture and a 300 mm focal length. Both use InGaAs p-i-n diode detectors. The system will be used in a semi-automated mode to monitor diurnal variations in the vertical distribution of aerosols, from which boundary layer thicknesses will be inferred.

© 1992 Optical Society of America