20. LRAN nomenclature

There is no standardized nomenclature, so we rely on usage.

The LRAN methods and instruments are named as follows:

• measurement objectives: aerosols, clouds, CLA ;

• the light-matter interaction processes involved: elastic, Rayleigh, Mie, HRS ;

• instrument size: micro-, mini- ;

• a new nomenclature used in EARLINET and which is starting to become widespread: aβ + bγ + c Raman, where a, b and c correspond to the numbers of lidar channels. Thus, we speak of 3β + 2γ to indicate that the LRAN transmits at 2 wavelengths and performs depolarization measurements which gives (2 + 1) β. This is the case for the LMD