Numerical simulation of the effect of refractive turbulence on coherent lidar return statistics in the atmosphere.
We propose an algorithm and the results of a numerical study of random realizations and statistics of a pulsed coherent lidar return that allow for refractive turbulence. We show that, under conditions of refractive turbulence, the relative variance of the lidar return power can exceed unity by a factor of as much as 1.5. Clear manifestations of the turbulent effect of backscattering amplification have been revealed from simulations of space-based lidar sensing of the atmosphere with coherent lidar. Under conditions of strong optical turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer, as a result of the backscattering amplification effect, the mean lidar return power can exceed the return power in the absence of turbulence by a factor of 3.
Banakh
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VA
Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Prospekt Akademicheskii 1, Tomsk 634055, Russia. banakh@iao.ru
Smalikho
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IN
Werner
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