Observation of Mixed-Layer Depth of Atmosphere with Lidar

A Micro-pulsed lidar at 532nm has been developed and used for routine observations of optical property of aerosol and the temporal-spatial evolution of the mixed-layer depth (MLD) of atmosphere. The mixed-layer depth of atmosphere is retrieved by seeking the absolute minimum of first derivative or second derivative of the range-squared- corrected lidar signal. Through 24 hours of continuous observation over Xi'an, the result shows that the lidar can clearly observe the diurnal variation of MLD of the Xi'an, which is of great importance for studying the proliferation of urban pollution and obtaining a complete meteorological status of the urban atmosphere.