Abstract

The data size of lidar measurement is huge just like radar. Before the introduction of computer with analog-to-digital conversion technique, the lidar data processing was an enormous task and a high accuracy data could not be expected. The recent development of computer technology has made lidar technique matured and the lidar has become a practical instrument for atmospheric research and monitoring. In Japan this occasion coincided with the time of change of air pollution aspects. After the tight regulation against the severe air pollution brought by the rapid economic growth, air pollution was reduced to the lower level. With this change, the role of lidar in Japan shifted from the high-level air pollution monitoring to the measurement of phenomena relating to air pollution, such as features of atmospheric boundary layer and dispersion of plumes in various scales. For that purpose, a large number of groups over Japan are engaging in developping the lidar technique. The groups and their locations are shown in Fig. 1, including other fields such as geodesy and millitary.

© 1985 Optical Society of America