Elastic backscatter lidar is an established method useful to characterize the particles forming an atmospheric aerosol. Fundamental to lidar measurements are the extinction and backscattering properties of the aerosol particles in the lidar beam. This review aims to give the reader an understanding for how lidar measurements are made, modeled, and applied. Specific emphasis is placed on extinction, which manifests attenuation of the lidar beam by the aerosol, and the backscattering that ultimately constitutes the measured signal. The so-called lidar equation, which quantifies this signal in terms of aerosol-particle properties, is derived from radiative transfer theory. Extinction is examined in terms of the redistribution of energy from the lidar beam by the particles and is shown to be inherently linked to interference between the incident and scattered light. Ways to measure aerosol-particle extinction are reviewed, including a recent method where the wave interference constitutes a digital hologram that may be processed to yield both the cross section and an image of the particle. The semi-graphical method of phasor analysis is also presented and used to reveal connections between the scattering characteristics of a particle and the distribution of electric field within it. Finally, a recently developed elastic backscatter lidar system, Colibri, is described and an example of its measurement capabilities are presented.

弹性反向散射激光雷达是一种成熟的方法，可用于表征形成大气气溶胶的颗粒。激光雷达测量的基础是激光雷达光束中气溶胶颗粒的消光和反向散射特性。这篇综述旨在使读者了解如何进行激光雷达测量，建模和应用。特别强调了消光，这表明气溶胶对激光雷达光束的衰减以及最终构成被测信号的反向散射。所谓的激光雷达方程是根据辐射传输理论推导得出的，该方程根据气溶胶颗粒的性质对信号进行量化。消光是根据粒子对激光雷达光束的能量重新分布进行检查的，并且被证明与入射光和散射光之间的干涉具有内在联系。综述了测量气溶胶颗粒消光的方法，包括最近的一种方法，其中波干扰构成了数字全息图，可以对其进行处理以产生颗粒的横截面和图像。还提出了相量分析的半图形方法，该方法用于揭示粒子的散射特性与粒子内部电场分布之间的联系。最后，描述了最近开发的弹性后向散射激光雷达系统Colibri，并提供了其测量功能的示例。包括最近的方法，其中波干扰构成了数字全息图，可以对其进行处理以产生粒子的横截面和图像。还提出了相量分析的半图形方法，该方法用于揭示粒子的散射特性与粒子内部电场分布之间的联系。最后，描述了最近开发的弹性后向散射激光雷达系统Colibri，并提供了其测量功能的示例。包括最近的方法，其中波干扰构成了数字全息图，可以对其进行处理以产生粒子的横截面和图像。还提出了相量分析的半图形方法，该方法用于揭示粒子的散射特性与粒子内部电场分布之间的联系。最后，描述了最近开发的弹性后向散射激光雷达系统Colibri，并提供了其测量功能的示例。