AUTHORS:

Hafiz A., Tomczak A., Janicka Ł., Georgoussis G., Tzeremes G., Stachlewska I.

ABSTRACT:

Laser-induced fluorescence lidar can greatly complement Mie-Raman lidar by adding sensitivity to biological aerosol detection within the atmosphere. A relatively easy implementation employs a single broadband fluorescence channel, but a broad detection band (∼100 nm) increases
the susceptibility to non-lidar backgrounds, requiring careful assessment of detection performance. We propose a methodology to evaluate the upper limit of fluorescence detection using simulations based on theoretical parameters and analysis of nighttime measurements. Here, we focus on the 470 ± 50 nm fluorescence channel that we implemented in the European Space Agency Mobile Mie-Raman lidar (EMORAL); however, the proposed approach can be easily scaled to other atmospheric lidars. The simulated upper limits for the bacterial- and the pollen-type bioaerosols are 2.93 km and 6.36 km, respectively. Lower upper limits of fluorescence occur under real atmospheric conditions. Together, these results establish practical constraints for the initial quality screening of fluorescence products, assisting their complementary use in classical Mie-Raman lidar.

Optics Express, 2026, vol. 34(22), pp. 41501-41520, doi: 10.1364/OE.608947