Abstract
Coherent lidar is a powerful tool for three-dimensional wind measurement, atmospheric gases and chemical species monitoring, and target discrimination. Recent development of compact coherent lidars has led to systems that are portable for field measurements, and are well suited for airborne and future satellite-based measurements. This paper summarizes the development of a compact 2 μm Tm:YAG and a 10 μm CO2 coherent lidar at NOAA's Wave Propagation Laboratory. The recent experimental studies of the atmospheric turbulence effects on the near infrared coherent lidars are also reviewed.
