Lidar for atmospheric investigations by various methods

A description is given of a universal lidar for investigating various characteristics of the atmosphere. This lidar is based on a special Cassegrainian telescope. It includes systems for reception and recording of weak light signals resulting from atmospheric backscattering of sounding laser pulses. These systems make it possible to carry out simultaneous two-channel measurements of signals arriving from a given layer of the atmosphere. The two-channel reception and the interchangeable laser source make the lidar suitable for sounding of the atmosphere by comparative absorption, spontaneous Raman scattering, resonant fluorescence, and other methods.