Atmospheric sodium measurement at Hefei by lidar

Sodium resonance fluorescence lidar was used to detect sodium layer at Hefei. The configuration of sodium resonance fluorescence lidar was introduced. The measurement data have been retrieved and analyzed. The results show that the density of sodium varied much during Dec.2005 to Mar.2006: The column abundance of sodium layer changed from 5.4×109cm-2 to 2.4×109cm-2, reduced almost 50%; The mean RMS width also declined, and the centroid height of sodium layer had small fluctuation. The variation trend of sodium layer at Hefei is similar to those in the other mid-latitude places (such as Illinois, Tokyo) in the world.