Abstract

The contrast in the azimuthal pattern of cross-polarized lidar data is used directly to retrieve the extinction coefficient profile of water droplet clouds. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we demonstrate that there is a simple mathematical relationship between the optical depth and the contrast of the cross-polarization azimuthal pattern. This relationship is independent of the water cloud droplet size, cloud position, and extinction profile. The derivation of the extinction profile of a water droplet cloud is obtained directly using the simple mathematical relationship without performing lidar equation inversion. The technique is limited to spherical particles.

© 2018 Optical Society of America

Measurement of the azimuthal dependence of cross-polarized lidar returns and its relation to optical depth

Nathalie Roy, Gilles Roy, Luc R. Bissonnette, and Jean-Robert Simard
Appl. Opt. 43(13) 2777-2785 (2004)

Inversion of water cloud lidar signals based on accumulated depolarization ratio

Gilles Roy and Xiaoying Cao
Appl. Opt. 49(9) 1630-1635 (2010)

Scattering phase function depolarization parameter model and its application to water droplets sizing using off-axis lidar measurements at multiple angles

Gilles Roy, Gregoire Tremblay, and Xiaoying Cao
Appl. Opt. 57(4) 969-977 (2018)

Simple relation between lidar multiple scattering and depolarization for water clouds

Yongxiang Hu, Zhaoyan Liu, David Winker, Mark Vaughan, Vincent Noel, Luc Bissonnette, Gilles Roy, and Matthew McGill
Opt. Lett. 31(12) 1809-1811 (2006)

Simulated polarization diversity lidar returns from water and precipitating mixed phase clouds

Kenneth Sassen, Hongjie Zhao, and Gregory C. Dodd
Appl. Opt. 31(15) 2914-2923 (1992)