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Nature 418, 826-827 (22 August 2002) | doi:10.1038/418826a
Atmospheric science: Lasing on a cloudy afternoon
Stephan Borrmann & Joachim Curtius
Abstract
Brief, high-intensity laser pulses can cause water droplets to emit white light. The technique can potentially be used to analyse the composition of clouds and shed light on how clouds may be affecting climate.
Understanding the role of clouds is one of the major obstacles to successfully modelling Earth's climate. Clouds in the troposphere, the lowest region of Earth's atmosphere, contain water droplets and ice particles ranging in diameter from a few micrometres to tens of millimetres.
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