Remote measurement of atmospheric mercury using differential absorption lidar

Abstract

Atomic mercury in the atmosphere was detected by the differential-absorption lidar technique. Laser light at the mercury resonance wavelength of 253.65 nm was generated by anti-Stokes shifting in H(2) of the frequency-doubled output from a Nd:YAG-pumped dye laser. The measurements demonstrate that a concentration of 4 ng/m(3), corresponding to a typical background value, can be detected if a path length of 2 x 1 km is used.