Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations
A lidar detects atmospheric parameters by transmitting laser pulse to the atmosphere and receiving the backscattering signals from molecules and aerosol particles. Because of the small backscattering cross section, a lidar usually uses the high sensitive photomultiplier and avalanche photodiode as d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2013-11-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/11/6079 |
| _version_ | 1828143580285239296 |
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| author | Songhua Wu Xiaoquan Song Bingyi Liu |
| author_facet | Songhua Wu Xiaoquan Song Bingyi Liu |
| author_sort | Songhua Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A lidar detects atmospheric parameters by transmitting laser pulse to the atmosphere and receiving the backscattering signals from molecules and aerosol particles. Because of the small backscattering cross section, a lidar usually uses the high sensitive photomultiplier and avalanche photodiode as detector and uses photon counting technology for collection of weak backscatter signals. Photon Counting enables the capturing of extremely weak lidar return from long distance, throughout dark background, by a long time accumulation. Because of the strong solar background, the signal-to-noise ratio of lidar during daytime could be greatly restricted, especially for the lidar operating at visible wavelengths where solar background is prominent. Narrow band-pass filters must therefore be installed in order to isolate solar background noise at wavelengths close to that of the lidar receiving channel, whereas the background light in superposition with signal spectrum, limits an effective margin for signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement. This work describes a lidar prototype operating at the Fraunhofer lines, the invisible band of solar spectrum, to achieve photon counting under intense solar background. The photon counting lidar prototype in Fraunhofer lines devised was used to observe the atmospheric boundary layer. The SNR was improved 2-3 times by operating the lidar at the wavelength in solar dark lines. The aerosol extinctions illustrate the vertical structures of aerosol in the atmospheric boundary over Qingdao suburban during summer 2011. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:00:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d07d5d48b59e42fe9dafbca155ae8dd0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:00:46Z |
| publishDate | 2013-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-d07d5d48b59e42fe9dafbca155ae8dd02022-12-22T04:05:39ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922013-11-015116079609510.3390/rs5116079rs5116079Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer ObservationsSonghua Wu0Xiaoquan Song1Bingyi Liu2Ocean Remote Sensing Institute, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 266100, ChinaOcean Remote Sensing Institute, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 266100, ChinaOcean Remote Sensing Institute, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 266100, ChinaA lidar detects atmospheric parameters by transmitting laser pulse to the atmosphere and receiving the backscattering signals from molecules and aerosol particles. Because of the small backscattering cross section, a lidar usually uses the high sensitive photomultiplier and avalanche photodiode as detector and uses photon counting technology for collection of weak backscatter signals. Photon Counting enables the capturing of extremely weak lidar return from long distance, throughout dark background, by a long time accumulation. Because of the strong solar background, the signal-to-noise ratio of lidar during daytime could be greatly restricted, especially for the lidar operating at visible wavelengths where solar background is prominent. Narrow band-pass filters must therefore be installed in order to isolate solar background noise at wavelengths close to that of the lidar receiving channel, whereas the background light in superposition with signal spectrum, limits an effective margin for signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement. This work describes a lidar prototype operating at the Fraunhofer lines, the invisible band of solar spectrum, to achieve photon counting under intense solar background. The photon counting lidar prototype in Fraunhofer lines devised was used to observe the atmospheric boundary layer. The SNR was improved 2-3 times by operating the lidar at the wavelength in solar dark lines. The aerosol extinctions illustrate the vertical structures of aerosol in the atmospheric boundary over Qingdao suburban during summer 2011.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/11/6079lidarFraunhofer linesphoton countingsignal-to-noise ratioaerosol extinction coefficient |
| spellingShingle | Songhua Wu Xiaoquan Song Bingyi Liu Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations Remote Sensing lidar Fraunhofer lines photon counting signal-to-noise ratio aerosol extinction coefficient |
| title | Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations |
| title_full | Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations |
| title_fullStr | Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations |
| title_short | Fraunhofer Lidar Prototype in the Green Spectral Region for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observations |
| title_sort | fraunhofer lidar prototype in the green spectral region for atmospheric boundary layer observations |
| topic | lidar Fraunhofer lines photon counting signal-to-noise ratio aerosol extinction coefficient |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/11/6079 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT songhuawu fraunhoferlidarprototypeinthegreenspectralregionforatmosphericboundarylayerobservations AT xiaoquansong fraunhoferlidarprototypeinthegreenspectralregionforatmosphericboundarylayerobservations AT bingyiliu fraunhoferlidarprototypeinthegreenspectralregionforatmosphericboundarylayerobservations |