Laser Beams in the Atmosphere

1. Refraction of Light Rays in the Atmosphere.- 1.0. Introduction.- 1.1. Slant-Path Terrestrial Refraction.- 1.2. Horizontal-Path Terrestrial Refraction.- 1.3. Random Refraction.- 1.4. Spectral Behavior of Optical Refraction.- 1.5. Influence of the Error of Determination of Various Parameters on the Error of Calculation of the Terrestrial Refraction Angles.- 1.6. Experimental Studies of Geodesic Refraction.- 1.7. Conclusion.- 2. Absorption of Laser Radiation by Atmospheric Gases.- 2.0. Introduction.- 2.1. Fundamental Definitions.- 2.2. Absorption at an Individual Line.- 2.3. Shape of the Far Wings.- 2.4. Origin of the Absorption Spectra of Atmospheric Gases.- 2.5. General Description of the Absorption Spectra of Atmospheric Gases.- 2.6. Methods of Calculation of the Line Parameters and Absorption Coefficients of Atmospheric Gas Molecules.- 2.7. Experimental Methods for Determination of the Absorption Coefficients.- 2.8. Tables of Parameters of the Spectral Lines of Atmospheric Gases.- 2.9. Absorption Functions for Laser Sources.- 2.10. Slant-Path Absorption of Laser Radiation in the Atmosphere.- 2.11. Limits of Applicability of Bouguer’s Law.- 3. Scattering of Laser Radiation in the Atmosphere.- 3.0. Introduction.- 3.1. Molecular Scattering.- 3.2. Scattering by a Single Particle.- 3.3. Scattering by a System of Particles.- 3.4. The Scattering Matrix.- 3.5. Scattering by Clouds and Fogs.- 3.6. Scattering by Hazes.- 3.7. Scattering by Precipitations.- 3.8. Angular Scattering Functions of Polydisperse Aerosols.- 3.9. Luminance of Forward- and Backscattered Radiation.- 3.10. Limits of Applicability of Bouguer’s Law.- 3.11. Polarization Characteristics of Scattered Laser Radiation.- 3.12. Transient Scattering.- 3.13. Intensity Fluctuations of Spatially Confined Beams in Scattering Media.- 3.14. Optical Models of Atmospheric Aerosols.- 4. Propagation of Laser Radiation in a Turbulent Atmosphere.- 4.0. Introduction.- 4.1. General.- 4.2. Turbulence Broadening of a Laser Beam in the Atmosphere.- 4.3. Distortion of Coherence of the Field of a Laser Beam in a Turbulent Atmosphere.- 4.4. Random Wander of Laser Beams in a Turbulent Atmosphere.- 4.5. Intensity Fluctuations of Laser Radiation in a Turbulent Atmosphere.- 4.6. Distribution Function of Intensity Fluctuations.- 4.7. Random Spatial Intensity Peaks.- 4.8. Averaging Effect of the Receiving Aperture.- 4.9. Phase Fluctuations in Laser Beams.- 4.10. Correction for Turbulent Distortions of Laser Beams.- 4.11. Conclusion.- 5. Nonlinear Effects Associated with the Propagation of Laser Radiation in the Atmosphere.- 5.0. Introduction.- 5.1. Optical Breakdown of Gases.- 5.2. Nonlinear Spectroscopic Effects in Gas Media.- 5.3. Thermalization of a Molecular Gas in Resonance Excitation by Laser Radiation.- 5.4. Self-Induced Thermal Effects of Laser Beams.- 5.5. Self-Induced Thermal Effects of Laser Beams in Atmospheric Aerosols.- 5.6. Propagation of Laser Radiation in Nonlinear Randomly Inhomogeneous Media.- 5.7. Self-Focusing of Laser Radiation Due to the Kerr and Electrostriction Effects.- 5.8. Effects of Stimulated Scattering of Strong Radiation in the Atmosphere.- 5.9. Conclusion.- 6. Optical Background Noise in the Atmosphere.- 6.0. Introduction.- 6.1. General Description of Optical Background Noise in the Atmosphere.- 6.2. Background of Scattered Solar Radiation.- 6.3. Self-Radiation Background of the Atmosphere.- 6.4. Characteristics of the Outgoing Radiation of the Earth-Atmosphere System.- 6.5. Characteristics of the Reflection of Optical Radiation by the Underlying Surface.- 6.6. Conclusion.- 7. Laser Applications in Atmospheric Research.- 7.0. Introduction.- 7.1. Fundamentals of Methods for Laser Probing of the Atmosphere; the Lidar Equation.- 7.2. Quantitative Interpretation of the Lidar Equation.- 7.3. Separation of the Aerosol and Molecular Components of Echo Signals.- 7.4. Investigations of the Lidar Ratio.- 7.5. Influence of Multiple-Scattering Effects on Probing Results.- 7.6. Inverse Problems of Laser Probing of Atmospheric Aerosols.- 7.7. Laser Probing of Clouds.- 7.8. Laser Monitoring of Industrial Aerosols.- 7.9. Laser Monitoring of Aerosols in the Troposphere and Stratosphere.- 7.10. Determination of the Slant-Path Transmittance of the Atmosphere.- 7.11. Laser Monitoring of Humidity and the Concentration of Gaseous Components of the Atmosphere.- 7.12. Laser Monitoring of the Temperature, Density, and Pressure.- 7.13. Laser Methods for the Determination of Wind Velocity.- 7.14. Laser Determination of the Turbulence Characteristics of the Atmosphere.- 7.15. Laser Probing of the Atmosphere from Space.- 7.16. Determination of the Concentrations of Atmospheric Gases by Laser-Spectroscopic Methods.- 7.17. The Outlook for Future Research and Development.- References.