An analytical description of the laser location (lidar) systems for in
vestigation of two-dimensional distributions of the scattering propert
ies of aerosol fields (natural or anthropogenic) in the infrared range
has been made on the basis of the heuristic concept for the influence
of the atmospheric turbulence (AT) on the transverse spatial structur
e of optical radiation. Explicit results for the stratifications of th
e coherency radii, the dispersion and contrast of the transverse spati
al fluctuations of the intensity, the averaging action of the aperture
s of matrix photodetector elements on the corresponding radiant fluxes
' turbulent fluctuations and the ''signal-to-turbulence-noise'' ratio
have been derived.