Lidar Techniques for Atmospheric Aerosol Characterization

Lidar (light detection and ranging) has emerged as a cornerstone method for profiling atmospheric aerosols with high vertical resolution and near‐real‐time capability. By transmitting laser pulses and analysing the backscattered signal, lidar systems retrieve fundamental optical properties of aerosol layers, including backscatter and extinction coefficients, from which particle concentration, size distribution and refractive index can be inferred. Elastic‐backscatter lidars provide basic aerosol layering, while multiwavelength and Raman lidar variants exploit wavelength dependence and inelastic scattering to discriminate particle type and retrieve extinction profiles independently of assumed lidar ratios. Polarisation‐sensitive lidars add further discrimination by measuring depolarisation ratios, revealing particle shapes and mixing states. Advances in high‐spectral‐resolution lidar (HSRL) allow direct separation of molecular and particulate signals, improving quantitative accuracy. Networks of ground‐based lidar stations and airborne deployments have facilitated aerosol climatologies, event‐based assessments of dust intrusions, volcanic plumes and biomass‐burning smoke, and integration with satellite retrievals. Emerging trends include compact, eye‐safe systems, autonomous operation, and data assimilation into numerical weather prediction and climate models, underscoring global significance for air quality monitoring, hazard assessment and radiative‐forcing studies.

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Lidar Techniques for Atmospheric Aerosol Characterization publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in lidar techniques for atmospheric aerosol characterization across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Lidar: A remote‐sensing instrument that emits laser pulses and measures backscattered light to profile atmospheric constituents vertically.

Backscatter coefficient: The fraction of light scattered back toward the lidar per unit distance, indicative of particle concentration and size.

Extinction coefficient: The sum of scattering and absorption losses per unit distance, used to quantify aerosol loading and radiative effects.

Raman lidar: A lidar variant detecting inelastically scattered light at shifted wavelengths, enabling independent extinction retrievals without assumed ratios.

Depolarisation ratio: The ratio of cross‐polarised to co‐polarised backscatter, revealing particle shape, mixing state and phase (liquid versus ice).

Aerosol optical depth (AOD): The integrated extinction coefficient over a vertical column, representing the total light attenuation due to aerosols.

References

1. Characterization of Tajogaite volcanic plumes detected over the Iberian Peninsula from a set of satellite and ground-based remote sensing instrumentation. Remote Sensing of Environment (2023).
2. Wildfire smoke triggers cirrus formation: lidar observations over the eastern Mediterranean. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2023).
3. Current Research in Lidar Technology Used for the Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Aerosols. Sensors (2017).