Rayleigh lidar observations during Arctic summer conditions

Summer observations by a Rayleigh lidar in Greenland are often hindered by the prolonged presence of a high solar background. To reduce the contribution of solar background to the lidar signal the authors have employed polarization and narrowband filtering techniques. These techniques combine to extend lidar operations to about 5/spl deg/ solar elevation angle. Further background rejection can be gained by employing multiple etalons of relatively high resolution. This capability is becoming more feasible for lidar applications with the development of liquid crystal etalons. The authors demonstrate the lidar system performance separately using polarization and narrowband filtering techniques and introduce the development of a unique liquid crystal etalon system for lidar applications.