A lidar signal intensity distribution in the image spot of a scattering volume is considered. The contribution of single and multiple scattering components to lidar returns and the effective droplet size in a cloud are estimated. For the case of multiple scattering it is shown that the lidar return intensity distribution can be expressed as a sum of Gaussian distributions of single and multiple scattering components.
lidar signal; multiple scattering; algorithm; clod droplet size; spatial characteristics