Microscopic imager for aircraft cloud condition detection

A method of detecting conditions of a cloud, the method comprising:

• emitting, by a laser emitter, a short pulse laser beam;
• converting, by a fluorescent filter, the short pulse laser beam into a short pulse light beam having a greater spectral content than the short pulse laser beam;
• directing the short pulse light beam into the cloud;
• receiving, by optics, a reflected portion of the short pulse light beam reflected by the cloud;
• and
• directing, by the optics, the reflected portion to an imager.

An aircraft system configured to detect conditions of a cloud, the aircraft system comprising:

• a laser emitter that generates a short pulse laser beam;
• a fluorescent filter configured to convert the short pulse laser beam into a short pulse light beam, wherein the spectral content of the short pulse light beam is greater than the spectral content of the short pulse laser beam;
• and
• optics configured to direct the short pulse light beam through a window of the aircraft into the cloud;
• an imager configured to receive a reflected portion of the short pulse light beam from the cloud;
• and
• processing electronics configured to obtain images from the imager, wherein the processing electronics are further configured to identify and classify particles within the cloud using the obtained images.