Robust calibration method for pure rotational Raman lidar temperature measurement

A new calibration method for pure rotational Raman lidar temperature measurement is described in this work. The method forms a temperature-dependent term in the intensity ratio, which is calculable with the radiosonde data, and then derives a calibration factor, with which the temperature is retrievable from the lidar return. The method is demonstrated and compared with existing methods through simulations and experiments. Results of the comparison show that the proposed method could provide more accurate calibrations under low signal-to-noise ratio conditions and could thus reduce the lidar performance requirement for temperature retrieval.