  We have developed an atmospheric monitoring system for the Telescope Array
experiment at Akeno Observatory. It consists of a Nd:YAG laser with an
alt-azimuth shooting system and a small light receiver. This system is
installed inside an air conditioned weather-proof dome. All parts, including
the dome, laser, shooter, receiver, and optical devices are fully controlled by
a personal computer utilizing the Linux operating system.
  It is now operated as a back-scattering LIDAR System. For the Telescope Array
experiment, to estimate energy reliably and to obtain the correct shower
development profile, the light transmittance in the atmosphere needs to be
calibrated with high accuracy.
  Based on observational results using this monitoring system, we consider this
LIDAR to be a very powerful technique for Telescope Array experiments. The
details of this system and its atmospheric monitoring technique will be
discussed.
