Lidar backscatter simulation for angular scanning of cirrus clouds with quasi-horizontally oriented ice crystals.

Backscattering properties of ice crystals are numerically investigated in the case of plate-like quasi-horizontally oriented crystals of cirrus clouds. In this case, a vertically oriented lidar detects the specular reflection from the clouds while a lidar with angular scanning allows one to infer the microphysical properties like the transverse shape of the crystals. It is shown that the depolarization ratio as a function of the lidar tilt reveals a step at a lidar tilt of about 30° from the vertical. This step has been observed experimentally. Appearance of this step indicates that the transverse shapes of the plate-like crystals are regular.

Layers of quasi-horizontally oriented ice crystals in cirrus clouds observed by a two-wavelength polarization lidar.

Layers of quasi-horizontally oriented ice crystals in cirrus clouds are observed by a two-wavelength polarization lidar. These layers of thickness of several hundred meters are identified by three attributes: the backscatter reveals a sharp ridge while the depolarization ratio and color ratio become deep minima. These attributes have been justified by theoretical calculations of these quantities within the framework of the physical-optics approximation.

Transformation of light backscattering phase matrices of crystal clouds depending on the zenith sensing angle.

Problems encountered in the interpretation of results of laser sensing of crystal clouds are considered. The parameters characterizing the cloud particle orientation are determined through the backscattering phase matrix elements. It is demonstrated how these parameters are related to the probability density of particle distribution over the spatial orientation angles. Trends in the change of the backscattering phase matrices attendant to variations of the zenith sensing angle are shown on the example of a monodisperse ice particle ensemble.

Observations of specular reflective particles and layers in crystal clouds.

In the present article, results of observations of high crystal clouds with high spatial and temporal resolution using the ground-based polarization LOSA-S lidar are described. Cases of occurrence of specularly reflective layers formed by particles oriented predominantly in the horizontal plane are demonstrated. Results of measuring echo-signal depolarization are compared for linear and circular polarization states of the initial laser beam.

Application of circularly polarized laser radiation for sensing of crystal clouds.

The application of circularly polarized laser radiation and measurement of the fourth Stokes parameter of scattered radiation considerably reduce the probability of obtaining ambiguous results for radiation depolarization in laser sensing of crystal clouds. The uncertainty arises when cloud particles appear partially oriented by their large diameters along a certain azimuth direction. Approximately in 30% of all cases, the measured depolarization depends noticeably on the orientation of the lidar reference plane with respect to the particle orientation direction. In this case, the corridor of the most probable depolarization values is about 0.1-0.15, but in individual cases, it can be noticeably wider. The present article considers theoretical aspects of this phenomenon and configuration of a lidar capable of measuring the fourth Stokes parameter together with an algorithm of lidar signal processing in the presence of optically thin cloudiness when molecular scattering cannot be neglected. It is demonstrated that the element ?44 of the normalized backscattering phase matrix (BSPM) can be measured. Results of measurements are independent of the presence or absence of azimuthal particle orientation. For sensing in the zenith or nadir, this element characterizes the degree of horizontal orientation of long particle diameters under the action of aerodynamic forces arising during free fall of particles.

Pulsed light field of a point source in a scattering medium.

Pulsed radiation propagating through a layer of a scattering medium undergoes distortions caused by multiple scattering. The results of numerical calculations of pulse waveforms for media with different scattering phase functions are presented. It is demonstrated that the scattered radiation waveform is not described by diffusion theories even for sufficiently large optical thicknesses (tau approximately 10-20) but is described, as a rule, by a bimodal distribution. Only when the optical thickness significantly increases (tau>100-150), the photon distribution over the free paths acquires the unimodal diffusion form.

Influence of the air-water interface on hydrosol lidar operation.

The results of seawater sensing by use of an airborne lidar with a changeable field of view (FOV) are presented, together with the results of numerical simulation of lidar operation by the Monte Carlo method. It is demonstrated that multiple scattering and wind-driven sea waves have opposite effects on the measured attenuation coefficient. At small FOVs the wind-driven sea waves cause the lidar signal decay rate to increase compared with the size of the plane surface and hence result in an overestimation of the retrieved attenuation coefficient. Inefficient operation of lidars with small FOVs is caused by strong fluctuations of lidar signal power that cannot be described by a normal distribution. Specific features of the fluctuations can be interpreted as manifestations of the well-known effect of backscattered signal amplification caused by the double passage of radiation through the same inhomogeneities. As for the plane air-water interface, multiple scattering is significant for large FOVs and compensates for the effect of wind-driven sea waves. The applicability of simple sea-surface models to a description of lidar signal power fluctuations is discussed.

Expanding the dynamic range of a lidar receiver by the method of dynode-signal collection.

A method of lidar data collection by simultaneous registration of signals from the anode and several dynodes of the photomultiplier is suggested. The dynamic range of the receiver has been extended as many as 5 orders of magnitude in the case of cloud sensing. The stable operation under strong background illumination is possible without losses in fine signal structure.