Prospects and limitations of modern lidar systems for stratosphere and mesosphere research

Kurzfassung

Lidar is the only tool which allows probing of the whole atmosphere from the ground up to about 120 km altitude. We revisit briefly the working principles of Rayleigh and resonance lidar systems used for middle atmosphere research. Based on state-of-the-art lidar systems being developed at DLR, we discuss the prospects and limitations of such instruments. Even with small and compact instruments it is now possible to obtain high-resolution temperature and wind measurements.