Combined Lidar Signal Registration Technique for Atmospheric Temperature Measurements with the Primary Mirror of the Siberian Lidar Station

A technique for parallel recording of lidar signals in the photon counting and charge accumulation modes at the Siberian Lidar Station (SLS) of the Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, is described in detail. A device for signal detection at the unique SLS lidar with the use of the combined technique is designed and experimentally tested. During the experimental testing of the device, the limits of applicability of the suggested technique to atmospheric temperature vertical profiling based on lidar signals of pure rotational Raman spectra are determined. The comparison between the lidar and satellite measurements shows their good agreement, which proves the high efficiency of the combined technique and confirms a possibility of atmospheric temperature profiling based on the SLS primary mirror throughout the altitude range of the SLS Raman lidar.