Estimation of sounding ability of a brillouin lidar in the East China Sea

Vertical profiles of sound speed in the sea can be measured by using laser excited Brillouin scattering. In this paper the dependence of the accuracy of sound speed measurement on the accuracy of the Brillouin shift measurement is analyzed. We calculated the maximum detecting depths of sound speed to an accuracy of 1 m/s by lidar with different laser pulse energy, platform altitude, telescope aperture and lidar effective attenuation coefficient. The estimation of sounding ability in the East China Sea is made in some stations. These data can be used in the design of Brillouin Lidar for the China Sea.