Mobile lidar systems have proven to be useful for remotely measuring air pollution and its transport. For example, Mitsev et al. Fredriksson et al. Thus, the absorption difference between backscattered signals on and off the absorption peak reveals the quantity of the absorbing media. Browell et al.
Fluorescence lidar provides another powerful tool for air pollution studies.
It is based on the detection of organic, fluorescent material from the atmosphere. When stimulated by a short-wavelength laser pulse, fluorescent materials emit light with individual spectrum that enables identification of different fluorescent specimens. This has potential applications for monitoring environmental pollution, industrial waste emission, agricultural insect control, and illicit chemical processes. Using a color which does not exist in nature, the measurement range can be extended far from the source where diffusion and turbulence have already diluted the plume. Uthe et al.