Atmospheric effects on CO{sub 2} differential absorption lidar sensitivity

The ambient atmosphere between the laser transmitter and the target can affect CO{sub 2} differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurement sensitivity through a number of different processes. In this work, we will address two of the sources of atmospheric interference with CO{sub 2} DIAL measurements: effects due to beam propagation through atmospheric turbulence and extinction due to absorption by atmospheric gases. Measurements of atmospheric extinction under different atmospheric conditions are presented and compared to a standard atmospheric transmission model (FASCODE). We have also investigated the effects of atmospheric turbulence on system performance. Measurements of the effective beam size after propagation are compared to model predictions using simultaneous measurements of atmospheric turbulence as input to the model. These results are also discussed in the context of the overall effect of beam propagation through atmospheric turbulence on the sensitivity of DIAL measurements