Accuracy of measuring the atmospheric temperature using Raman-scattered laser radiation

A statistical model of the signal and noise is considered for the use in measuring the atmospheric temperature by the Raman scattering of laser radiation. It is shown that when the signals are recorded using photon counting, the statistics of the combined signal and noise photocounts is described by a negative binomial distribution. The temperature is determined on the basis of a statistical model and its statistical accuracy characteristics are investigated. An estimate is made of the error in temperature measurement resulting from the finite response time of photodetectors. A temperature estimate is made taking the detector response time into account when the photocounts have the Poisson statistics, and its statistical accuracy is considered including fluctuations in the laser output energy.