Elastic Lidar

Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) operates on similar principles to RADAR but in lieu of radio waves, lidar uses a laser to scan through the atmosphere. In elastic lidar, light scattered back towards the lidar instrument from molecules and particles in the atmosphere is collected by a telescope and measured with a photodetector. The technique has vast applications in determining the effects of global warming and other pollution-related atmospheric problems. This handbook explores practical elastic lidar methodology and inversion techniques, as well as data analysis methods, construction of elastic lidars, and their testing.