Di Girolamo, P.; Franco, N.; Di Paolantonio, M.; Summa, D.; Dionisi, D. Atmospheric Thermodynamic Profiling through the Use of a Micro-Pulse Raman Lidar System: Introducing the Compact Raman Lidar MARCO. Sensors2023, 23, 8262.
Di Girolamo, P.; Franco, N.; Di Paolantonio, M.; Summa, D.; Dionisi, D. Atmospheric Thermodynamic Profiling through the Use of a Micro-Pulse Raman Lidar System: Introducing the Compact Raman Lidar MARCO. Sensors 2023, 23, 8262.
Di Girolamo, P.; Franco, N.; Di Paolantonio, M.; Summa, D.; Dionisi, D. Atmospheric Thermodynamic Profiling through the Use of a Micro-Pulse Raman Lidar System: Introducing the Compact Raman Lidar MARCO. Sensors2023, 23, 8262.
Di Girolamo, P.; Franco, N.; Di Paolantonio, M.; Summa, D.; Dionisi, D. Atmospheric Thermodynamic Profiling through the Use of a Micro-Pulse Raman Lidar System: Introducing the Compact Raman Lidar MARCO. Sensors 2023, 23, 8262.
Abstract
It was for long time believed that lidar systems based on the use of high-repetition micro-pulse lasers could be effectively used to only stimulate atmospheric elastic backscatter echoes, and thus only exploited in elastic backscatter lidar systems. Their application to stimulate rotational and roto-vibrational Raman echoes, and consequently their exploitation in atmospheric thermodynamic profiling, was considered not feasible based on the technical specifications possessed by these laser sources until a few years ago. However, recent technological advances in the design and development of micro-pulse lasers, presently achieving high UV average powers (1-5 W) and small divergences (0.3-0.5 mrad), in combination with the use of large aperture telescopes (0.3-0.4 m diameter primary mirrors), allow to presently develop micro-pulse laser-based Raman lidars capable to measure the vertical profiles of atmospheric thermodynamic parameters, namely water vapour and temperature, both in daytime and nighttime. This paper is aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of these measurements and at illustrating and discussing the high achievable performance level, with a specific focus on water vapour profile measurements. The technical solutions identified in the design of the lidar system and their technological implementation within the experimental setup of the lidar prototype are also carefully illustrated and discussed.
Keywords
water vapour; micro-pulse laser; Raman lidar
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
