Signal to Noise Ratio Estimations for a Volcanic ASH Detection Lidar. Case Study: The Met Office

Abstract

In this paper we calculate the Signal-to-Noise (SNR) ratio of a 3-channel commercial (Raymetics) volcanic ash detection system, (LR111-D300), already operating under Met Office organization. The methodology for the accurate estimation is presented for day and nighttime conditions. The results show that SNR values are higher than 10 for ranges up to 13 km for both nighttime and daytime conditions. This is a quite good result compared with other values presented in bibliography and proves that such system is able to detect volcanic ash over a range of 20 km.