Abstract <p>The history of the creation of a turbulent lidar at V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, began 11 years ago, when a bulky laboratory setup enabled experimentally detecting the backscatter enhancement (BSE) effect in a turbulent atmosphere for the first time. Subsequently, a number of design solutions were suggested to improve the lidar, which made it possible to reduce its size and increase its reliability. The main design features of the turbulent lidar, which is a new type of laser locator, are the coincidence of the optical axes of the transmitter and receiver, the presence of an additional receiving channel, and operation in the photon counting mode with the accumulation of echo signals. In this work, the lidar sounding technique is described; an algorithm for retrieving the profile of the structural characteristic of turbulent fluctuations of the refractive index of air from the ratio of lidar echoes is developed; the experimental technique is verified and the lidar data are compared with the readings of a solar radiometer and a scintillometer. Further development of the turbulent lidar sounding technique is to enable ground-based remote monitoring of the turbulence intensity in the atmospheric boundary layer, e.g., along glide paths at airports, distant early detection of clear air turbulence from an aircraft, etc.</p>