Vaisala Lidar Ceilometer CL61 with Depolarization Measurement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A typical ceilometer uses a vertically pointing laser beam to determine the height of a cloud ceiling or a cloud base. Some commonly used ceilometers in meteorological research are the Vaisala CL31 and CL51 models for cloud base detection, which we have been used quite successfully in our projects for obtaining information on inversions that trap fog layers as well as their evolution. Recently Vaisala introduced a new generation of ceilometers -- CL61 -- with novel depolarization capability. The CL61 can be used not only for conventional cloud base height measurements but also for characterizing different aerosols, liquid droplets, drizzle and raindrops, snow and ice crystals, dust, volcanic ash and sand. CL61 is also much more effective than traditional ceilometers for detecting icing and freezing conditions and for mixing layer height detection.