Patent ID: 8338785

Claim:
An air-borne apparatus for detecting icing conditions, the apparatus comprising: a laser system configured and operative to generate a light signal and direct the light signal into a cloud; a lens component configured and operative to collect echo signals from a cloud caused by the light signal directed into the cloud by the laser system; a beam splitter component configured and operative to redirect signals received and passing through the lens component into at least first and second paths; a supercooled large droplet (SLD) detector positioned to receive the redirected signals from the beam splitter, the SLD detector including: a first signal detector component configured and operative to perform a first color measurement on the first redirected signal; and a second signal detector component configured and operative to perform a second color measurement on the second redirected signal wherein the SLD detector is configured and operative to use the first and second color measurements to determine liquid water content and droplet diameter distribution for the cloud in which the light signal was directed into by the laser system.