The study of cirrus clouds with the polarization lidar in the South-East China (Hefei)

Results of the study of microphysical characteristics of cirrus clouds in Hefei, China, with a multiwavelength polarization lidar are presented. Measurements were carried out from December 2010, to February 2013. In this work, we consider the only dependable parameter of lidar signals, i.e., the linear depolarization ratio measured at a wavelength of 532 μm. The dependences of depolarization ratios on both the size of ice crystals and the distribution of their distortion angles were calculated in this work for the first time. These results were used for retrieving, with some uncertainty, the microphysical parameters of cirrus clouds observed in Hefei during that period.