Patent ID: 7580127

Claim:
A lidar system to remotely identify aerosol particles comprising: a transmitter for transmitting into an atmosphere an optical beam wherein said optical beam is substantially linearly polarized in a single polarization plane; a receiver for receiving backscattered radiation of said optical beam and directing said backscattered radiation onto at least one detector, said at least one detector being operative for converting said backscattered radiation into at least one electrical signal representative of said backscattered radiation; and a processor to determine at least one characteristic of said aerosol particles based on analysis of said at least one electrical signal, wherein said receiver comprises: a. collection optics for collecting said backscattered radiation; b. a collimator for collimating said backscattered radiation interposed between said collection optics and said at least one detector; c. a beam-splitter for splitting said collimated backscattered radiation into a first post-beam-splitter beam and a second post-beam-splitter beam, wherein said first post-beam-splitter beam is linearly polarized in a single polarization plane that is substantially parallel to the polarization plane of said transmitted optical beam, and wherein said second post-beam-splitter beam is linearly polarized in a single polarization plane that is substantially perpendicular to the polarization plane of said transmitted optical beam; d. first directing optics for directing said first post-beam-splitter beam onto a first detector, said first detector being operative for converting said first post-beam-splitter beam into a first electrical signal representative of said first post-beam-splitter beam; and e. second directing optics for directing said second post-beam-splitter beam onto a second detector, said second detector being operative for converting said second post-beam-splitter beam into a second electrical signal representative of said second post-beam-splitter beam.