Algorithm for retrieving vertical visibility of laser diode ceilometer

The paper presents an inversion algorithm for laser diode ceilometer to retrieve the vertical visibility. According to the working principle of laser ceilometer, a method has been derived for determining the boundary value of the aerosol extinction coefficient in the lower troposphere from the elastic scattering lidar equation. Then the vertical distribution of the extinction coefficient can be retrieved by Fernald method, according to which the average visibility can be further retrieved in the vertical direction. The algorithm retrieves the vertical visibility from actual measurement data of ceilometer. The result comparison with Vaisala ceilometer shows that, the algorithm retrieves the vertical visibility more accurately and reliably.