Lidar discrimination of multiple fluorescent tracers of atmospheric motions

An analytical study demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous lidar measurement and discrimination of multiple fluorescent particle tracers of air motions. Equations are presented for evaluating signal-to-noise ratio and interfering signals. Matrix methods can solve for the concentrations of several tracers from simultaneous measurements in at least as many spectral receiver channels, even when fluorescence spectra overlap. Two example systems, one with crosstalk and another without, are evaluated for accuracy in the presence of shot noise and calibration errors. Potential applications include observing the structure of complex flows and measuring the effect of release location on atmospheric transport and dispersion.