An initial assessment of ground based lidar backscattered signal in Penang Island

A backscattering lidar at 355 nm wavelength with Raman channel produced by Raymetrics was operated in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang Island. This lidar is currently taking measurements of the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosol layers over Penang Island. Background subtraction such as solar radiation for the range corrected signal during day time is needed. Dead-time correction was then applied to improve the lidar signal. In order to obtain the better signal for near and far range, gluing both analog and photon counting (PC) is necessary. Temporal evolution is plotted to determine variation planetary boundary layer (PBL) structure and the altitude of PBL also can be identify from time to time. Cloud distribution and cloud base layer can be retrieved from the temporal evolution plot and aerosol concentration pattern also can be determined.