Cloud height and thickness measurement based on a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector.

At present, the methods for measuring cloud height and thickness mainly include using micro-pulse lidar and microwave radiometer data. To further study cloud height and thickness, a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) is applied to a lidar system for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, to analyze the cloud height and thickness. In the experiment, a 1.2-m-diameter horizon telescope is used for laser emitting and echo receiving, a 1064 nm near-IR pulse laser with a single pulse energy of 4 mJ is used as the system emission laser, and a 4-pixel SNSPD array detector is used as the end receiver to complete the echo photon reception. By analyzing the experimental data, the distributions of cloud height and cloud thickness can be obtained using the laser ranging system. The cloud cover condition on a certain day was measured, and the obtained cloud bottom height was about 1222 m, cloud top height was about 1394 m, and cloud cover thickness was about 172 m. The difference between the cloud cover thickness and the forecast value was 28 m. The cloud cover height and thickness measured by this method are true and credible.