Statistical theory of the interpretation of lidar measurements of the aerosol transparence of the atmosphere

A mathematical model for single-frequency lidar sounding is developed which is universal for various processing schemes and makes it possible to take into account the randomness of estimated and measured quantities. The interpretation is considered as a parametric problem of statistics. Algorithms which assure a minimum Bayes risk are developed for estimating the profile of the attenuation coefficient and the transparence of the atmosphere. Calculations are presented illustrating the dependence of the restoration accuracy on the accuracy of specification of a priori quantities.