An extended Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) technique has been developed to measure the distributions of particle velocities and particle number rates over a whole pipe cross-section in a dilute pneumatic conveying system. The first extension concentrates on the transform matrix for predicting the laser beams' cross point in a pipe according to the shift coordinate of the 3D computer-controlled traverse system on which the probes of the LDA system were mounted. The second focuses on the proper LDA sample rate for the measurement of gas-solid pipe flow with polydisperse particles. A suitable LDA sample rate should ensure that enough data is recorded in the measurement interval to precisely calculate the particle mean velocity or other statistical values at every sample point. The present study explores the methodology as well as the fundamentals of measurements, using a laser facility, of the cross-sectional distributions of solid phase. In the horizontal gas-solid pipe flow (glass beads less than 110 mu m), the experimental data show that the cross-sectional flow patterns of the solid phase can be classified by annulus-like flow describing the axial particle velocity contours and stratified flow characterising particle number rate distribution over a cross-section. Thus, the cross-sectional flow pattern of the solid phase in a horizontal pipe may be annular or stratified dependent on whether the axial particle velocity or particle number rate is the phenomenon studied. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.