Use of polarization lidar for investigation of the atmospheric planetary boundary layer

The work describes the first Bulgarian polarization lidar for systematic investigations in the atmospheric planetary boundary layer, it also presents some results of pilot measurements in different meteorological situations. Based on the analysis of the experimental data, it can be concluded that the polarization lidar presented can be successfully used for obtaining additional information on the microphysical characteristics of the atmospheric aerosol during the formation of the atmospheric planetary boundary layer, e.g. in the study of the transformation of the aerosol shape, dense aerosol formations (clouds, rain, fog) which is of paramount importance to the applied meteorology (including air navigation), and for ecological purposes. The 'clear' atmosphere observations show that the polarization lidar detects differences in the aerosol concentration; what is more, it is evident that the degree of polarization can be used for qualitative estimates in the investigations of the atmospheric aerosol.