Abstract
We propose a new method for calculating the volume depolarization ratio of light backscattered by the atmosphere and a lidar system that employs an auxiliary telescope to detect the depolarized component. It takes into account the possible error in the positioning of the polarizer used in the auxiliary telescope. The theory of operation is presented and then applied to a few cases for which the actual position of the polarizer is estimated, and the improvement of the volume depolarization ratio in the molecular region is quantified. In comparison to the method used before, i.e., without correction, the agreement between the volume depolarization ratio with correction and the theoretical value in the molecular region is improved by a factor of 2–2.5.
Highlights
The type and origin of atmospheric aerosols can be studied with the measurements provided by multiwavelength lidars
The depolarization ratio is extremely useful in the retrieval of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height since it allows us to discriminate between the aerosol within this layer and different aerosol types coupled to the ABL
The purpose of this paper is to present a method that permits, from the outputs of the system calibration process, an estimation of the actual orientation of the polarization analyzer and to use this information to improve the calculation of the volume depolarization ratio
Summary
The type and origin of atmospheric aerosols can be studied with the measurements provided by multiwavelength lidars. Wandinger et al [12] showed how different types of aerosols and clouds can be identified by using combined data, including color and depolarization ratios. In this manner, the usual set of lidar products can be combined with depolarization information to improve the aerosol classification algorithms (see [10,12,13])
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