Detection of molecular backscattering with fiber based coherent heterodyne lidar

Extracting calibrated backscatter and extinction values from any lidar requires simultaneous measurement of aerosol and molecular backscattering. The heterodyne receiver acting as a high spectral resolution receiver has previously shown promising results with low repetition rate and high pulse energy lidar. We present the detection of aerosol and molecular backscattering simultaneously with a fiber based, high repetition rate, coherent lidar instrument utilizing a tapered fiber amplifier that yields to a pulse peak power of 1.9 kW at the wavelength of 1053 nm. Further, our receiver bandwidth of 1.5 GHz enables the spectral analysis of aerosol and molecular scattering spectra, which are recorded and analyzed for multiple altitudes up to 1 km. The results demonstrate the potential of coherent heterodyne lidars to extend their capabilities toward backscattering and extinction analysis.