ABSTRACT
The upper height of a region of intense backscatter with a poorly defined boundary between this region and a region of clear air above it is found as the maximal height where aerosol heterogeneity is detectable, that is, where it can be discriminated from noise. The theoretical basis behind the retrieval technique and the corresponding lidar-data-processing procedures are discussed. We also show how such a technique can be applied to one-directional measurements. Examples of typical results obtained with a scanning lidar in smoke-polluted atmospheres and experimental data obtained in an urban atmosphere with a vertically pointing lidar are presented.
ABSTRACT
The methodology of using mobile scanning lidar data for investigation of smoke plume rise and high-resolution smoke dispersion is considered. The methodology is based on the lidar-signal transformation proposed recently [Appl. Opt. 48, 2559 (2009)]. In this study, similar methodology is used to create the atmospheric heterogeneity height indicator (HHI), which shows all heights at which the smoke plume heterogeneity was detected by a scanning lidar. The methodology is simple and robust. Subtraction of the initial lidar signal offset from the measured lidar signal is not required. HHI examples derived from lidar scans obtained with the U.S. Forest Service, Fire Sciences Laboratory mobile lidar in areas polluted by wildfires are presented, and the basic details of the methodology are discussed.
ABSTRACT
We present an alternative method for determining the total offset in lidar signal created by a daytime background-illumination component and electrical or digital offset. Unlike existing techniques, here the signal square-range-correction procedure is initially performed using the total signal recorded by lidar, without subtraction of the offset component. While performing the square-range correction, the lidar-signal monotonic change due to the molecular component of the atmosphere is simultaneously compensated. After these corrections, the total offset is found by determining the slope of the above transformed signal versus a function that is defined as a ratio of the squared range and two molecular scattering components, the backscatter and transmittance. The slope is determined over a far end of the measurement range where aerosol loading is zero or, at least, minimum. An important aspect of this method is that the presence of a moderate aerosol loading over the far end does not increase dramatically the error in determining the lidar-signal offset. The comparison of the new technique with a conventional technique of the total-offset estimation is made using simulated and experimental data. The one-directional and multiangle measurements are analyzed and specifics in the estimate of the uncertainty limits due to remaining shifts in the inverted lidar signals are discussed. The use of the new technique allows a more accurate estimate of the signal constant offset, and accordingly, yields more accurate lidar-signal inversion results.
ABSTRACT
A new method is considered that can be used for inverting data obtained from a combined elastic-inelastic lidar or a high spectral resolution lidar operating in a one-directional mode, or an elastic lidar operating in a multiangle mode. The particulate extinction coefficient is retrieved from the simultaneously measured profiles of the particulate backscatter coefficient and the particulate optical depth. The stepwise profile of the column-integrated lidar ratio is found that provides best matching of the initial (inverted) profile of the optical depth to that obtained by the inversion of the backscatter-coefficient profile. The retrieval of the extinction coefficient is made without using numerical differentiation. The method reduces the level of random noise in the retrieved extinction coefficient to the level of noise in the inverted backscatter coefficient. Examples of simulated and experimental data are presented.
Subject(s)
Algorithms , Image Enhancement/methods , Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods , Lasers , Radar , Radiation Dosage , Reproducibility of Results , Scattering, Radiation , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
An experimental method for determining the presence and the level of systematic distortions in lidar data is considered. The method has been developed on the basis of two years of field experiments with the Fire Sciences Laboratory elastic scanning lidar. The influence of multiplicative and additive distortion components is considered using numerical experiments and is illustrated with experimental data. The examination method is most applicable for short wavelengths at which the atmospheric molecular component in clear atmospheres is large enough to stabilize the Kano-Hamilton multiangle solution, based on the assumption of horizontal atmospheric homogeneity.
ABSTRACT
An iterative method for determining slope in noisy lidar data is considered based on the use of a corrected ('shaped') inverted function and an assumed behavior of the unknown function of interest (an 'image function'). The method is utilized for extracting extinction- coefficient profiles from data of multiangle measurements. The sequence and specifics of the retrieval procedure, results of simulations, and essentials of the practical retrieval of particulate extinction-coefficient profiles from signals of the elastic scanning lidar are considered. The methodology may be applicable when extracting the extinction-coefficient profiles from an elastic lidar operating in a multiangle scanning mode, a combined Raman elastic-backscatter lidar, or a high spectral resolution lidar operating in a fixed angular position.
ABSTRACT
We propose a modified algorithm for the gradient method to determine the near-edge smoke plume boundaries using backscatter signals of a scanning lidar. The running derivative of the ratio of the signal standard deviation (STD) to the accumulated sum of the STD is calculated, and the location of the global maximum of this function is found. No empirical criteria are required to determine smoke boundaries; thus the algorithm can be used without a priori selection of threshold values. The modified gradient method is not sensitive to the signal random noise at the far end of the lidar measurement range. Experimental data obtained with the Fire Sciences Laboratory lidar during routine prescribed fires in Montana were used to test the algorithm. Analysis results are presented that demonstrate the robustness of this algorithm.
ABSTRACT
The influence of lidar data systematic errors on the retrieved particulate extinction coefficient profile in clear atmospheres is investigated. Particularly, two sources of the extinction coefficient profile distortions are analyzed: (1) a zero-line offset remaining after subtraction of an inaccurately determined signal background component and (2) a far-end incomplete overlap due to poor adjustment of the lidar system optics. Inversion results for simulated lidar signals, obtained with the near- and far-end solutions, are presented that show advantages of the near-end solution for clear atmospheres.
ABSTRACT
A new method based on a two-angle approach is developed to determine the lidar solution constant from scanning elastic lidar data, hence providing a relative calibration for each lidar scan. Once the solution constant is determined, the vertical profiles of atmospheric extinction can be calculated. With this calibration method a minimization technique is used that replaces the linear regression used in a known two-angle approach that requires only local atmospheric homogeneity over a restricted altitude calibration range rather than overall horizontal homogeneity. Lidar signals from at least one pair of elevation angles are used, averaged in time when the system is operated in a permanent two-angle mode, or an arbitrary number of signal pairs is used, when a two-dimensional lidar scan is being processed. The method is tested extensively with synthetic data. The calibration method is a robust tool for determining the solution constant to the lidar equation and for obtaining vertical profiles of atmospheric extinction.
ABSTRACT
A stable variant of the near-end solution has been developed for inversion of lidar signals measured in clear atmospheres. The inversion is based on the use of reference values of the extinction coefficient obtained with a nephelometer at the lidar measurement site. The inversion method, based on a combination of the optical depth and boundary point solutions, is illustrated by simulated and experimental data.
ABSTRACT
A variant of the near-end solution is presented that allows one to consider a multiple-scattering component in lidar measurements of distant clouds or dense smoke. It is assumed that the lidar signal, contaminated by multiple scattering, obeys a single-scattering lidar equation in which an additional term, which is related to the range-dependent ratio of a multiple-to-single-scattering component, is included. For the inversion, a brink solution is proposed that does not require an a priori selection of the extinction-to-backscatter ratio in the optically dense aerosol formation under investigation. The solution requires either knowledge of the multiple-to-single-scattering ratio (e.g., determined experimentally with a multiangle lidar) or the use of the analytical dependence of the multiple-to-single-scattering ratio on the aerosol optical depth. In the latter case, an iterative technique is used.
ABSTRACT
A method of analytical differentiation is developed for processing differential absorption lidar (DIAL) data. The method is based on simple analytical transformation of the DIAL on and off signal ratio. The derivatives consequently are found for either individual data points or local zones of the measurement range. The method makes possible the separation of local zones of interest and the separate investigation of these. The smoothing level is established by the selected value of the exponent in a transformation formula rather than by the selection of the resolution range. The method does not require the calculation of local signal increments. This reduces significantly the high-frequency noise in the measured concentration. The method is general and can be used for different experimental data, including inelastic (Raman) lidar data. The processing technique is practical and does not require a determination of the solution for a large set of algebraic equations. It is based on the simple repetition of the same type of calculations with different constants. The method can easily be implemented for practical computations.
