MICROSCOPIC IMAGER FOR AIRCRAFT CLOUD CONDITION DETECTION

An aircraft system is configured to detect conditions of a cloud. The aircraft system includes a laser emitter, a fluorescent filter, optics, and an imager. The laser emitter generates a short pulse laser beam. The fluorescent filter is configured to convert the short pulse laser beam into a short pulse light beam such that the spectral content of the short pulse light beam is greater than the spectral content of the short pulse laser beam. The optics are configured to direct the short pulse light beam through a window of the aircraft into the cloud. The imager is configured to receive a reflected portion of the short pulse light beam from the cloud, and process the images to detect the cloud particles of interest.