A lidar system and method to enable simultaneous accurate and high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of atmospheric temperature, wind, and water vapor. The technology employs a laser (101), a telescope (110), an acousto-optic modulator (105) or an electro-optic modulator (205), a Thulium-doped fiber amplifier (206), and an optical circulator (108) which projects a laser signal into the atmosphere toward a phenomenon to be studied. The laser is reflected or backscattered by the atmospheric phenomena and retrieved by the telescope (110), where the laser is processed by a signal sampler and processor (114) for analysis.