This poster will provide an update on the current capabilities and future potential of the NCAR Raman-shifted Eye-safe Aerosol Lidar (REAL). This elastic backscatter lidar is currently unique in that it operates at 1.5 microns with strong pulse-energy and eye-safety. Because of this, it can typically acquire useful backscatter data to at least 5 kilometers range without multi-pulse averaging and scan rapidly enough to produce time-lapse visualization of atmospheric flow. Eye-safety also facilities unattended and continuous operation. REAL also features relative backscatter depolarization sensitivity. Absolute calibration of backscatter and depolarization ratios at 1.5 microns is currently being explored. Such a future capability will expand the usefulness of REAL to a broader array of atmospheric science applications including (1) the impact of aerosols on the radiation budget, (2) aerosol process studies, and (3) combining the data with radars for studies of cloud microphysical properties.