Laser backscattering signals in the atmosphere have a dynamic range of 105 or 106, with the intensity varying from near-field to far-field, such as one to ten kilometers. The attenuation varies with the distance as exponential and inverse square law. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the dynamic range with a gate-control to compress laser backscattering signals. This paper presents a description of gate-control applications in a wind lidar which can compress the dynamic range of laser backscattering signals from the near field atmosphere. In addition, a photomultiplier with gate-controlling can improve the detection distance and signal-to-noise. The study on Gate-controlled photomultiplier EMI 9214 has been carried out.