Boundary Layer Scattering Measurements with a Charge-Coupled Device Camera Lidar

A CCD-based bistatic lidar (CLidar) system has been developed and constructed to measure scattering in the atmospheric boundary layer. The system uses a CCD camera, wide-angle optics, and a laser. Imaging a vertical laser beam from the side allows high-altitude resolution in the boundary layer all the way to the ground. The dynamic range needed for the molecular signal is several orders of magnitude in the standard monostatic method, but only approximately 1 order of magnitude with the CLidar method. Other advantages of the Clidar method include low cost and simplicity. Observations at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, show excellent agreement with the modeled molecular-scattering signal. The scattering depends on angle (altitude) and the polarization plane of the laser.