title: Turbulence-induced measurement errors in coherent differential absorption lidar ground systems.
abstract: The presence of atmospheric refractive turbulence makes it necessary to use simulations of beam propagation to examine the uncertainty added to the differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurement process of a practical heterodyne lidar. The inherent statistic uncertainty of coherent return fluctuations in ground lidar systems profiling the atmosphere along slant paths with large elevation angles translates into a lessening of accuracy and sensitivity of any practical DIAL measurement. This technique opens the door to consider realistic, nonuniform atmospheric conditions for any DIAL instrument configuration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Signal Theory and Communications, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain. belmonte@tsc.upc.edu
authors.forename: Aniceto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belmonte