Not only in winter sports snow height is considered an important parameter. On transport routes and railway systems measuring the snow height is equally important. The laser based snow height sensors deliver quick and reliable information about snow height and ground reflectivity. How high are the clouds? How many cloud layers are detected? Is the cloud detection limited by precipitation or mist? These are questions among others around the topics of clouds and visibility which meteorology is dealing with. An answer is delivered by cloud height meters / ceilometers which work with lidar technology.