Correction for nonlinear photon counting effects in lidar systems

Abstract

Photomultiplier tubes (PMT's) employed in the photon counting (PC) mode of operation are widely used as detectors in lidar systems. In our laboratory, we have developed a versatile Nd:YAG lidar which is used for measurement of both the middle atmosphere and the troposphere. With this system, we encounter a very wide range of signal levels ranging from the extremely weak signals from the top of the mesosphere to the very strong returns from low level clouds. Although the system is capable of operating the PMT's in either the analog detection or photon counting mode, we find that often when we use photon counting we have portions of our lidar return which contain very useful information but are not within the linear operating regime of the PC system. We report the results of our efforts to explore the extent to which such high intensity PC signals can be quantitatively analyzed. In particular, a useful model relating the mean 'true' count rate and the observed count rate is presented and it's application to our system demonstrated. This model takes into account the variation in height of the PMT output pulses and the effect of the pulse height discrimination threshold.