Near-end solution for lidar signals that includes a multiple-scattering component

A variant of the near-end solution is presented that allows one to consider a multiple-scattering component in lidar measurements of distant clouds or dense smoke. It is assumed that the lidar signal, contaminated by multiple scattering, obeys a single-scattering lidar equation in which an additional term, which is related to the range-dependent ratio of a multiple-to-single-scattering component, is included. For the inversion, a brink solution is proposed that does not require an a priori selection of the extinction-to-backscatter ratio in the optically dense aerosol formation under investigation. The solution requires either knowledge of the multiple-to-single-scattering ratio (e.g., determined experimentally with a multiangle lidar) or the use of the analytical dependence of the multiple-to-single-scattering ratio on the aerosol optical depth. In the latter case, an iterative technique is used. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.