Just read that Boeing are doing some research on l@ser technology to warn of turbulent air ahead. This could save a lot of damage and injuries to pax.
As indicated the problem mainly sticks in the difference between "wet" and "dry" environment.
This nonsense has been around for years. The range, latency, and conditions that a laser works negate anything useful ever coming of this.
Too wet, too dry, to few particulates, too many particulates, all the same result...it is not a system that could ever be used in an operational environment. (per National Academy of Sciences report in 2000)
There is good data coming from a system that collectively shares the AMDAR data from aircraft in the system, processed and distributed back to the aircraft in the system, giving a much better idea of what is up ahead, and at what levels.