Multiwavelengths lidar to detect atmospheric aerosol properties

The peculiarity of lidar systems is to provide profiles of optical properties of the atmosphere. The use of specific wavelengths and the selection of different kinds of backscattering (elastic, Raman, polarisation selective) permit to obtain information about suspended particles (aerosols). The authors show here a case study in which particle signals are detected from the boundary layer up to the stratosphere. Information on the size distribution of the different layers can be obtained, using a graphical method relying on the spectral dependence of aerosol extinction. The authors apply this method, for the first time to their knowledge, to stratospheric aerosol.