Observation of Mixed-Layer Depth of Atmosphere with Lidar

A Micro-pulsed lidar at 532 nm has been developed and used for routine observations of optical property of aerosol and the temporal-spatial evolution of the mixed-layer depth (MLD) of atmosphere. The mixed-layer depth of atmosphere is retrieved by seeking the absolute minimum of first derivative or second derivative of the range-squared- corrected lidar signal. Through 24 hours of continuous observation over Xi´an, the result shows that the lidar can clearly observe the diurnal variation of MLD of the Xi´an, which is of great importance for studying the proliferation of urban pollution and obtaining a complete meteorological status of the urban atmosphere.