Design and implementation of a divided-lens lidar ceilometer prototype for manufacture

A new lidar ceilometer prototype based on a divided aspheric lens optical design has been built. An overview of the optical design is given and its benefits discussed. The methodology used for comparison of optical signal to noise ratio among possible optical designs is presented and its results summarised. Theoretical transmitter-receiver overlap functions for different designs are given and the selection criteria for the prototype design are discussed. A preliminary lidar return signal from a cloud at an altitude of 7500m is shown.