The signals obtained from a differential absorption lidar (DIAL) when the beam is directed through an external gas cell have been simulated in order to evaluate the use of such cells for checking DIAL performance and calibration. A particular concern has been to examine how the backscatter coefficient of the gas in the cell would affect the measurements. The results of the simulations show that with high spatial resolution, concentration measurements are not highly sensitive to the amount or nature of the scatterer in the cell. When the spatial resolution of the DIAL is comparable to the cell dimensions or greater, the sensitivity of concentration measurements to variations in aerosol content is much greater and significant errors can occur unless there is a relatively close match between the cell and background backscatter coefficients.

Date Published: 10 February 1995
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 2366, Optical Instrumentation for Gas Emissions Monitoring and Atmospheric Measurements, (10 February 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.205568

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2366:
Optical Instrumentation for Gas Emissions Monitoring and Atmospheric Measurements
Michael G. Yost; Dennis K. Killinger; Joseph Leonelli; William Vaughan; Dennis K. Killinger; William Vaughan; Michael G. Yost, Editor(s)