The solar-blind Raman-lidar based on a KrF laser (248 nm) developed at Lecce's University (40° 20′ N, 18° 6′ E) is described. The lidar is currently used for day and night measurements of water vapor. The dependence of the measurement range of the lidar on the laser beam divergence is investigated and it is shown that the KrF laser beam divergence can be reduced by a factor ∼10 by using a quite simple unstable cavity configuration. The maximum range which was limited to approximately 500 m for a ∼3 mrad divergence laser beam has increased up to 1200m with a ∼0.3 mrad divergence laser beam since the field of view of the telescope was of 1 mrad. Water vapor profiles retrieved from lidar measurements under different operating conditions are presented. The effect of boundary-layer ozone absorption has also been investigated. © Società Italiana di Fisica.

cited By 2