Compact aerosol lidar for Martian atmosphere monitoring according to the NASA Mars Surveyor Program '98

We represent here our report on the remote study of the Martian atmosphere near the surface by a compact aerosol diode lidar during the Mars Surveyor Lander-98 mission. We are planning to study the daily and seasonal variations of the vertical structure of the atmosphere near the surface, both in active and passive mode. In passive mode, the lidar will measure: (1) sky brightness by basic receiving channel; (2) sky brightness in polarization lane of additional receiving channel. In active mode, the lidar measures the vertical profile of the atmospheric backscatter coefficient.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.