Abstract

The feasibility of using the Backus-Gilbert inversion technique to recover size distributions of water droplets in clouds from laser scattering data is investigated. The set of multiparameter lidar returns that yields the best inversion is a polarized set taken at multiple scattering angles. For the type of distributions found in natural clouds, experimental noise effects are minimal, but the small size portion of the spectrum is not well recovered because of low scattered intensity and large spread in the recovery function’s resolution. However, recovery of precisely known, but less extensive distributions of cloud-sized water droplets is demonstrated for laboratory data.

© 1976 Optical Society of America

Inversion techniques for determining the droplet size distribution in clouds: numerical examination

L. C. Chow and C. L. Tien
Appl. Opt. 15(2) 378-383 (1976)

Application of Backus-Gilbert Inversion Technique to Determination of Aerosol Size Distributions from Optical Scattering Measurements

E. R. Westwater and A. Cohen
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Cloud-droplet-size distribution from lidar multiple-scattering measurements

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Optical Heterodyne Measurement of Cloud Droplet Size Distributions

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