Polarized high-spectral-resolution lidar based on field-widened Michelson interferometer

Abstract

A polarized high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) based on a field-widened Michelson interferometer (FWMI) is developed in Zhejiang University, China, which is intended to profile various atmospheric aerosol optical properties simultaneously, such as the backscatter coefficient, the extinction coefficient, depolarization ratio, lidar ratio, etc. Due to the enlarged field-of-view (FOV) of the FWMI spectroscopic filter compared with the conventional Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) filter, we can expand the angular acceptable angle of the HSRL system to about 1 degree yet without any degradation of the spectral discrimination, enhancing the photon efficiency considerably. In this paper, we describe the developed FWMI-based polarized HSRL system comprehensively. The instrument configuration parameters and overall systematic structure are first presented. Then the FWMI subsystem, as the core apparatus of this HSRL, is particularly focused on. Instrumental calibration approach and the data retrieval are also discussed in detail. To our knowledge, this HSRL system is the first new generation of lidar which employs the FWMI spectroscopic filter in China, and great potential will be shown with the gradually improved engineering design in near future.