Analysis of potential capabilities of lidar measurements of air density in the middle atmosphere

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   In the present paper, the potential capabilities of lidar measurements of
   the atmospheric density in the middle atmosphere are analyzed.
   Calculations are performed for the lidar with quite moderate
   specifications: transmitter comprising a solid Nd: YAG-laser with a
   wavelength of 532 nm, pulse energy of 0.8 J, and repetition frequency of
   20 Hz and receiving system comprising primary mirrors with radii of 0.3
   and 0.5 m, field-of-view angles of 0.1 and 1 mrad, and spectral widths of
   the filter of 0.5, 1, and 10 nm. The signal acquisition time is 10 min for
   spatial resolution of 1 km. Three sensing options are analyzed: from the
   ground level, from an aircraft (with 10-km flight altitude), and from an
   ISS with orbit altitude of 414 km. It is demonstrated that for a standard
   deviation of 10%, maximum sensing altitudes of 40-65km can be reached in
   the daytime, 50-70 km in the twilight, and 55-80km at night for the best
   option - aircraft observations. For observations from space, maximum
   sensing altitudes are the lowest ones: 33-55km in the daytime and 45-67 km
   at night due to large distances from the space vehicle to the object being
   sensed. For ground-based measurements, the maximum sensing altitudes lie
   between these values.