High-spectral-resolution lidar for measuring tropospheric temperature profiles by means of Rayleigh–Brillouin scattering

A novel high-spectral-resolution lidar receiver based on a Fizeau interferometer and a photomultiplier tube array for tropospheric temperature profiling is introduced. Compared to other temperature lidars, an imaging approach is used to resolve the entire Rayleigh–Brillouin (RB) spectrum without applying frequency scanning techniques. The functionality of the system is demonstrated by means of a nighttime measurement. Atmospheric temperature is retrieved from 4.0 km to 9.2 km by analyzing the measured RB spectra with the Tenti S6 line shape model. The systematic error of the retrieved temperatures is determined to be smaller than 3 K, and the corresponding random error varies between 1.7 K (4.0 km) and 2.3 K (9.2 km) for an observation time of 5 min and a vertical resolution of 0.3 km. Considering the short averaging time and the stable arrangement of the system, the suggested approach is also attractive for future airborne applications.