Remote wind profiling with a solid-state Nd:YAG coherent lidar system

Subcarrier modulation based phase-coded coherent lidar

This paper presents a lean subcarrier modulation-based phase-coded coherent lidar system with a non-quadrature receiver and sampling ratio lower than the Nyquist sampling ratio. Specifically, by utilizing the drawbacks of low Doppler tolerance in encoding signals, phase information can be obtained after pulse compression, and the mirror frequency introduced by real sampling can be negligible. Validation experiments based on inverse synthetic aperture lidar are performed, with the corresponding imaging results having a resolution superior to 4 cm, demonstrating our system's efficiency in phase acquisition that is free from frequency aliasing.

Development of a 2 μm Solid-State Laser for Lidar in the Past Decade

The 2 μm wavelength belongs to the eye-safe band and has a wide range of applications in the fields of lidar, biomedicine, and materials processing. With the rapid development of military, wind power, sensing, and other industries, new requirements for 2 μm solid-state laser light sources have emerged, especially in the field of lidar. This paper focuses on the research progress of 2 μm solid-state lasers for lidar over the past decade. The technology and performance of 2 μm pulsed single longitudinal mode solid-state lasers, 2 μm seed solid-state lasers, and 2 μm high power solid-state lasers are, respectively, summarized and analyzed. This paper also introduces the properties of gain media commonly used in the 2 μm band, the construction method of new bonded crystals, and the fabrication method of saturable absorbers. Finally, the future prospects of 2 μm solid-state lasers for lidar are presented.

Single-frequency 45-mJ pulses from a MOPA system using an Er,Yb:glass planar waveguide amplifier and a large mode area Er-doped fiber amplifier

We demonstrate a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system that emits single-frequency high-energy optical pulses at 1540 nm using an Er,Yb:glass planar waveguide amplifier and a large mode area Er-doped fiber amplifier. A double under-cladding and a 50-µm-thick core structure are employed for the planar waveguide amplifier to increase the output energy without degrading the beam quality. A pulse energy of 45.2 mJ with a peak power of 27 kW is generated at a pulse repetition rate of 150 Hz with a pulse duration of 1.7 µs. Moreover, the beam quality factor M² of the output beam is 1.84 at the highest pulse energy thanks to its waveguide structure.

Active alignment of receiving beam for coaxial optics in wind sensing coherent Doppler lidar using feedback control based on the processing of heterodyne-detected signal

We have developed an active alignment of receiving beam (AARB) function for coaxial optics in wind sensing coherent Doppler lidar using feedback control based on the heterodyne-detected signal processing of backscattered light from the aerosols. The proposed method needs only the simple alignment components and contributes to the robustness for the coherent lidars with the high-power laser transmitter under the risky condition of misalignment, for example, in the airborne application. The concept, design, and evaluation results of the alignment precision are shown. The effect of the AARB is demonstrated for both cases of the hard target and soft target (i.e., wind sensing). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the AARB concept for the wind sensing coherent lidar.

Fine gust front structure observed by coherent Doppler lidar at Lanzhou Airport (103°49$^{\prime}$'E, 36°03$^{\prime}$'N)

Coherent Doppler lidar (CDL) has long been used to automatically identify gust front-induced wind shear signatures from the velocity data, but rare attention has been given to the fine structure of wind gust fronts. In this work, a compact and robust CDL with high efficiency and accuracy is equipped at Lanzhou Airport (103°49$^{\prime}$^'E, 36°03$^{\prime}$^'N) to conduct interpretation of wind gust front structures by using high-resolution CDL data. Outflows of gust fronts could be detected reliably from radial velocities, spectral widths, as well as radial shears. For the case study presented here, photographs of the velocity and spectrum width capacitates gust front characteristics such as height, advance speed, and radial shear, as well as vertical structure to be displayed in minute detail. Besides, the quasi-continuous vertical wind reveals the potential turbulent mixing and vertical transport process during the gust front event, which makes CDL a very attractive and essential technique for future development of gust front automatic detection systems.

1.55-μm high-peak, high-average-power laser amplifier using an Er,Yb:glass planar waveguide for wind sensing coherent Doppler lidar

We have developed a high-gain, high-peak-power laser amplifier at an eye-safe 1.55 μm wavelength using an Er,Yb:glass planar waveguide for wind sensing coherent Doppler lidars (CDLs). Our planar waveguide is free from stimulated Brillouin scattering and realizes high gain thanks to its multi-bounce optical-path configuration. A peak power of 5.5 kW with a pulse energy of 3.2 mJ is achieved at the repetition frequency of 4 kHz, which leads to an average power of 12.8 W. The gain is more than 23 dB. The wind sensing at more than 30 km is demonstrated with a CDL using the developed amplifier.

RF intensity modulated mid-IR light source based on dual-frequency optical parametric oscillation

Laser detection and ranging (Ladar)-radar uses intensity-modulated laser beam for ranging and remote sensing. It has the advantages of high spatial resolution from Ladar and immunity to atmospheric turbulence from radar, since the synthetic wavelength is in the order of meters. Intensity modulated mid-IR laser can extend the Ladar-radar concept to mid-IR spectrum. An intensity modulated mid-IR light source with tunable wavelength and modulation frequency is presented. A dual-frequency 1064 nm laser is used to pump an optical parametric oscillator with magnesium oxide doped periodically-poled lithium niobate crystal (MgO:PPLN) as the nonlinear medium. The beat note frequency of the dual-frequency pump laser can be tuned from 140 to 160 MHz. When the pump power is 13 W, the idler output power at mid-IR is 2.38 W, corresponding to a pump-idler conversion efficiency of 19.4%. The wavelength of the idler light is tuned from 3.1 to 3.8 μm by changing the temperature of the MgO:PPLN crystal. The modulation spectra of the mid-IR light are studied. The frequency stability of the beat note in mid-IR is compared with the one in the pump, which are 4.1 Hz and 3 Hz in 240 second measuring time, respectively.

A Hardware Implemented Autocorrelation Technique for Estimating Power Spectral Density for Processing Signals from a Doppler Wind Lidar System

A signal processing technique utilizing autocorrelation of backscattered signals was designed and implemented in a 1.5 µm all-fiber wind sensing Coherent Doppler Lidar (CDL) system to preprocess atmospheric signals. The signal processing algorithm’s design and implementation are presented. The system employs a 20 kHz pulse repetition frequency (PRF) transmitter and samples the return signals at 400 MHz. The logic design of the autocorrelation algorithm was developed and programmed into a field programmable gate array (FPGA) located on a data acquisition board. The design generates and accumulates real time correlograms representing average autocorrelations of the Doppler shifted echo from a series of adjustable range gates. Accumulated correlograms are streamed to a host computer for subsequent processing to yield a line of sight wind velocity. Wind velocity estimates can be obtained under nominal aerosol loading and nominal atmospheric turbulence conditions for ranges up to 3 km.

Heterodyne high-spectral-resolution lidar

In this work, a novel lidar technique to perform high-spectral-resolution measurements of the atmospheric backscatter is discussed and the first results are presented. The proposed method, which relies on a heterodyne detection receiver, allows us not only to separate the molecular and the aerosol component of the atmospheric backscatter, but also to investigate the spectral shape of the Rayleigh-Brillouin line. As in the case of the direct-detection high-spectral-resolution lidars, the separation of the different scattering processes would allow an independent system calibration and aerosol extinction measurements. The proposed retrieval technique was successfully tested on the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt airborne Doppler wind lidar system with measurements conducted during different measurement campaigns and under different atmospheric conditions. In light of these results, further ideas for the implementation of a dedicated heterodyne high-spectral-resolution lidar are discussed.

Field performance of an all-semiconductor laser coherent Doppler lidar

We implement and test what, to our knowledge, is the first deployable coherent Doppler lidar (CDL) system based on a compact, inexpensive all-semiconductor laser (SL). To demonstrate the field performance of our SL-CDL remote sensor, we compare a 36 h time series of averaged radial wind speeds measured by our instrument at an 80 m distance to those simultaneously obtained from an industry-standard sonic anemometer (SA). An excellent degree of correlation (R2=0.994 and slope=0.996) is achieved from a linear regression analysis of the CDL versus SA wind speed data. The lidar system is capable of providing high data availability, ranging from 85% to 100% even under varying outdoor (temperature and humidity) conditions during the test period. We also show the use of our SL-CDL for monitoring the dependence of aerosol backscatter on relative humidity. This work points to the feasibility of a more general class of low-cost, portable remote sensors based on all-SL emitters for applications that require demanding laser stability and coherence.

Semianalytic pulsed coherent laser radar equation for coaxial and apertured systems using nearest Gaussian approximation

We present a semianalytic pulsed coherent laser radar (CLR) equation for coaxial and apertured systems. It combines the conventional CLR equation, numerical Fresnel integration (NFI), and nearest Gaussian approximation, using correction factors that correspond to beam truncation. The range dependence of the signal-to-noise ratio obtained by this semianalytic equation was found to agree well with the precise NFI solution for not only the focal range, but also the near-field range. Furthermore, the optimum beam truncation condition depending on the atmospheric refractive index structure constant is shown. The derived equation is useful for precisely predicting the CLR performance simply by its semianalytic expression.

Dual-frequency pulsed laser with an accurate gigahertz-beat note

We report a novel nanosecond pulsed laser with a highly accurate gigahertz beat that is realized by injection locking to gigahertz sidebands generated from a single-frequency cw laser radiation using a Mach-Zehnder type intensity modulator. It is shown from both the spectrum of the pulsed sidebands and their coherent beat in the time domain that the frequency accuracy of an rf oscillator driving the intensity modulator is reflected in the injection-locked nanosecond pulse with an intense peak power of the megawatt class.

Compact all-fiber pulsed coherent Doppler lidar system for wind sensing

A compact 1.5 microm all-fiber pulsed coherent Doppler lidar system for wind sensing, which includes the functions of variable pulse width and automatic polarization control has been developed. The system configuration is introduced and key components used in the system are explained. Theoretical performances of the system in wind sensing are estimated and compared with experimental results. The measurable range corresponding to the detection probability of >80% is approximately 1 km or more in the case of 150 m range resolution under the normal atmospheric conditions.

Ultraviolet high-spectral-resolution Doppler lidar for measuring wind field and aerosol optical properties

An ultraviolet incoherent Doppler lidar that incorporates the high-spectral-resolution (HSR) technique has been developed for measuring the wind field and aerosol optical properties in the troposphere. An injection seeded and tripled Nd:YAG laser at an ultraviolet wavelength of 355 nm was used in the lidar system. The HRS technique can resolve the aerosol Mie backscatter and the molecular Rayleigh backscatter to derive the signal components. By detecting the Mie backscatter, a great increase in the Doppler filter sensitivity was realized compared to the conventional incoherent Doppler lidars that detected the Rayleigh backscatter. The wind velocity distribution in a two-dimensional cross section was measured. By using the HSR technique, multifunction and absolute value measurements were realized for aerosol extinction, and volume backscatter coefficients; the laser beam transmittance, the lidar ratio, and the backscatter ratio are derived from these measurements.

Analysis of the performance of a coherent pulsed fiber lidar for aerosol backscatter applications

The antenna and the Doppler estimation characteristics of a coherent pulsed lidar intended for short-range aerosol backscatter applications have been analyzed. The system used fiber-optic interconnects and operated at a wavelength of 1.548 microm. The range dependence of the signal for various bistatic and monostatic antenna configurations has been determined. The system operated in a low-pulse-energy, high-pulse-repetition-rate mode, and the Doppler estimates from the return signal were achieved with a multipulse accumulation procedure. The expected performance of the accumulation in this low-photocount regime was compared with the data obtained from the system, and a reasonable level of agreement was demonstrated.

Reference-beam storage for long-range low-coherence pulsed Doppler lidar

We present a laser Doppler velocimeter that stores and delays the reference beam to preserve coherence with a long-path-length measurement beam. Our storage and delay technique relaxes the strict coherence requirements associated with lidar laser sources, permitting the use of low-coherence lasers. This technique potentially could reduce the cost and size of lidar systems for commercial applications. Experiments that use fiber-optic ring resonators to store the reference beams and generate reference pulse trains validated the concept. We obtained results at several simulated distances by beating each usable reference pulse with a delayed Doppler-shifted measurement beam reflected off a rotating mirror.

Coherent Doppler lidar signal spectrum with wind turbulence

The average signal spectrum (periodogram) for coherent Doppler lidar is calculated for a turbulent wind field. Simple approximations are compared with the exact calculation. The effects of random errors in the zero velocity reference, the effects of averaging spectral estimates by use of multiple lidar pulses, and the effects of the range dependence of the lidar signal power over the range gate are included. For high spatial resolution measurements the lidar signal power is concentrated around one spectral estimate (spectral bin), and correct interpretation of the contribution from turbulence is difficult because of the effects of spectral leakage. For range gates that are larger than the lidar pulse volume, the signal power is contained in many spectral bins and the effects of turbulence can be determined accurately for constant signal power over the range gate and for the far-field range dependence of the signal power.

Autonomous beam alignment for coherent Doppler lidar with multielement detectors

Autonomous beam alignment for coherent Doppler lidar requires accurate information about optical misalignment and optical aberrations. A multielement heterodyne detector provides the required information without a loss in overall system performance. The effects of statistical variations from the random backscattered field (speckle field) are determined with computer simulations for both ground-based operation with a fixed calibration target and for space-based operation with random target backscatter.

Extracting vertical winds from simulated clouds with ground-based coherent Doppler lidar

The performance of mean velocity estimators is determined by computer simulations for solid-state coherent Doppler lidar measurements of wind fields at a cloud interface with deterministic profiles of velocity and aerosol backscatter. Performance of the velocity estimates is characterized by the standard deviation about the estimated mean and the bias referenced to the input velocity. A new class of estimators are required for cloud conditions, as traditional techniques result in biased estimates. We consider data with high signal energy that produces negligible random outliers.

Injection-seeded, single-frequency, q-switched erbium:glass laser for remote sensing

We have built and characterized an injection-seeded, Q-switched, flash-lamp-pumped, eye-safe Er:glass laser that is suitable for coherent remote sensing. The output of the device is a 400-ns, single-frequency, transform-limited pulse of 1 mJ at 1.552 mum.

Ground-based differential absorption lidar for water-vapor and temperature profiling: development and specifications of a high-performance laser transmitter

An all-solid-state laser transmitter for a water-vapor and temperature differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system in the near infrared is introduced. The laser system is based on a master-slave configuration. As the slave laser a Q-switched unidirectional alexandrite ring laser is used, which is injection seeded by the master laser, a cw Ti:sapphire ring laser. It is demonstrated that this laser system has, what is to my knowledge, the highest frequency stability (15 MHz rms), narrowest bandwidth (<40 MHz), and highest spectral purity (>99.99%) of all the laser transmitters developed to date in the near infrared. These specifications fulfill the requirements for water-vapor measurements with an error caused by laser properties of <5% and temperature measurements with an error caused by laser properties of <1 K in the whole troposphere. The specifications are maintained during long-term operation in the field. The single-mode operation of this laser system makes the narrow-band detection of the DIAL backscatter signal possible. Thus the system has the potential to be used for accurate temperature measurements and for simultaneous DIAL and Doppler wind measurements.

Evaluation of coherent Doppler lidar velocity estimators in nonstationary regimes

We evaluate the mean velocity estimator performance for coherent Doppler lidar measurements of wind fields with wind shear and nonuniform system response as a function of target range. Performance of the velocity estimates is characterized by the bias and standard deviation that are determined by computer simulations. Results are for solid-state lasers with a Gaussian transmitted pulse. We consider data with high signal energy that produces negligible random outliers.

Edge technique Doppler lidar wind measurements with high vertical resolution

We have developed a Doppler lidar system using the edge technique and have made atmospheric lidar wind measurements. Line-of-sight wind profiles with a vertical resolution of 22 m have a standard deviation of 0.40 m /s for a ten-shot average. Day and night lidar measurements of the vector wind have been made for altitudes from 200 to 2000 m. We validated the lidar measurements by comparing them with independent rawinsonde and pilot balloon measurements of wind speed and direction. Good agreement was obtained. The instrumental noise for these data is 0.11 m /s for a 500-shot average, which is in good agreement with the observed minimum value of the standard deviation for the atmospheric measurements. The average standard deviation over 30 mins varied from 1.16 to 0.25 m /s for day and night, respectively. High spatial and temporal resolution lidar profiles of line-of-sight winds clearly show wind shear and turbulent features at the 1 -2-m /s level with a high signal-to-noise ratio and demonstrate the potential of the edge-technique lidar for studying turbulent processes and atmospheric dynamics.

Diode-pumped high-efficiency high-brightness Q-switched ND:YAG slab laser

A high-efficiency diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG oscillator designed for future spaceborne applications has been demonstrated and characterized. The laser is based on a side-pumped slab geometry and uses an unstable resonator with a radially variable-reflectivity output coupler. The laser provides an output pulse energy of 100 mJ at a 100-Hz repetition rate, with a near-diffraction-limited beam and an overall electrical optical efficiency exceeding 6%.

Coherent Doppler lidar measurements of winds in the weak signal regime

In the weak signal regime coherent Doppler lidar velocity estimates are characterized by a localized distribution around the true mean velocity and a uniform distribution of random outliers over the velocity search space. The performance of velocity estimators is defined by the standard deviation of the good estimates around the true mean velocity and the fraction of random outliers. The quality of velocity estimates is improved with pulse accumulation. The performance of velocity estimates from two different coherent Doppler lidars in the weak signal regime is compared with the predictions of computer simulations for pulse accumulation from 1 to 100 pulses.

Coherent Doppler lidar signal covariance including wind shear and wind turbulence

The performance of a coherent Doppler lidar is determined by the statistics of the coherent Doppler signal. The derivation and calculation of the covariance of the Doppler lidar signal for random atmospheric wind fields and wind shear are presented. The signal parameters are defined for a general coherent Doppler lidar system in terms of the atmospheric parameters. There are two distinct physical regimes: one in which the transmitted pulse determines the signal statistics and the other in which the wind field and the atmospheric parameters dominate the signal statistics. When the wind fields dominate the signal statistics, Doppler lidar data are nonstationary and the signal correlation time is proportional to the operating wavelength of the lidar. The signal covariance is derived for signal-shot and multiple-shot conditions. For a single shot, the parameters of the signal covariance depend on the random, instantaneous atmospheric parameters. For multiple shots, various levels of ensemble averaging over the t emporal scales of the atmospheric processes are required. The wind turbulence is described by a Kolmogorov spectrum with an outer scale of turbulence. The effects of the wind turbulence are demonstrated with calculations for a horizontal propagation path in the atmospheric surface layer.

Coherent launch-site atmospheric wind sounder: theory and experiment

The coherent launch-site atmospheric wind sounder (CLAWS) is a lidar atmospheric wind sensor designed to measure the winds above space launch facilities to an altitude of 20 km. In our development studies, lidar sensor requirements are defined, a system to meet those requirements is defined and built, and the concept is evaluated, with recommendations for the most feasible and cost-effective lidar system for use as an input to a guidance and control system for missile or spacecraft launches. The ability of CLAWS to meet NASA goals for increased safety and launch/mission flexibility is evaluated in a field test program at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in which we investigate maximum detection range, refractive turbulence, and aerosol backscattering efficiency. The Nd:YAG coherent lidar operating at 1.06 µm with 1-J energy per pulse is able to make real-time measurements of the three-dimensional wind field at KSC to an altitude of 26 km, in good agreement with our performance simulations. It also shows the height and thickness of the volcanic layer caused by the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

Effects of refractive turbulence on coherent laser radar

The leading-order effects of refractive turbulence are calculated for a general coherent laser radar with beam-angle and beam-offset misalignment. The effects of refractive turbulence are important for 10-microm operation in the atmospheric surface layer for typical daytime conditions and paths longer than 3 km. The effects for near-infrared and visible wavelengths are more pronounced. The behavior of different parameter regimes are related to the scintillation scales of the transmitted beam. In certain cases, the small-scale scintillation structure produces a measure of beam misalignment that is more sensitive than the free-space case. The phase approximation of the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle is shown to be correct in the limit of large path-integrated refractive turbulence.

Single-frequency, 500-ns laser pulses generated by a passively Q-switched Nd laser

We demonstrate a simple, passive technique for producing 500-ns pulse lengths with a Nd laser. The measured 1.5-MHz upper limit to the pulse spectral width indicates that it is nearly transform limited.

Edge technique: theory and application to the lidar measurement of atmospheric wind

The edge technique is a new and powerful method for measuring small frequency shifts. With the edge technique a laser is located on the steep slope of a high-resolution spectral filter, which produces large changes in transmission for small frequency shifts. A differential technique renders the frequency shift measurement insensitive to both laser and filter frequency jitter and drift. The measurement is shown to be insensitive to the laser width and shape for widths that are less than the half-width of the edge filter. The theory of the measurement is given with application to the lidar measurement of wind. The edge technique can be used to measure wind with a lidar by using either the aerosol or molecular backscattered signal. Examples of both measurements are presented. Simulations for a ground-based lidar at 1.06 microm using reasonable instrumental parameters are used to show an accuracy for the vector components of the wind that is better than 0.5 m/s from the ground to an altitude of 20 km for a 100-m vertical resolution and a 100-shot average. For a 20-m vertical resolution and a 10-shot average, simulations show an accuracy of better than 0.2 m/s in the first 2 km and better than 0.5 m/s to 5 km.

Coherent 1-microm lidar measurements of atmospheric-turbulence-induced spatial decorrelation using a multielement heterodyne detector array

We have employed a coherent 1-microm Nd:YAG lidar system to measure directly, for the first time to our knowledge, the reduced spatial coherence length, p(0), of the lidar returns caused by atmospheric turbulence. Our experiments were conducted by using a 2 x 2 heterodyne detector array, which permitted real-time spatial correlation measurements of the lidar returns at two different detector spacings. The spatial correlation coefficients and spatial coherence length of the lidar returns from a hard target weremeasured during a day-to-night time period when the atmospheric turbulence parameter, C(n)(2), was measured to vary from 2 x 10(-13) to 2 x 10(-14) m(-1/3). These directly measured values of p(0) as a function of C(n)(2) were found to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Coherent laser radar performance for general atmospheric refractive turbulence

The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and heterodyne efficiency are investigated for coherent (heterodyne detection) laser radar under the Fresnel approximation and general conditions. This generality includes spatially random fields, refractive turbulence, monostatic and bistatic configurations, detector geometry, and targets. For the first time to our knowledge, the effects of atmospheric refractive turbulence are included by using the path-integral formulation. For general conditions the SNR can be expressed in terms of the direct detection power and a heterodyne efficiency that can be estimated from the laser radar signal. For weak refractive turbulence (small irradiance fluctuations at the target) and under the Markov approximation, it is shown that the assumption of statistically independent paths is valid, even for the monostatic configuration. In the limit of large path-integrated refractive turbulence the SNR can become twice the statistically independent-path result. The effects of the main components of a coherent laser radar are demonstrated by assuming untruncated Gaussians for the transmitter, receiver, and local oscillator. The physical mechanisms that reduce heterodyne efficiency are identified by performing the calculations in the receiver plane. The physical interpretations of these results are compared with those obtained from calculations performed in the target plane.

1 x 2 fiber-optic heterodyne array for laser Doppler velocimetry and angular orientation measurements

A 1 x 2 single-mode fiber-optic heterodyne array is presented that simultaneously measures the radial and angular Doppler velocities of a target. This heterodyne array also provides an amplitude-dependent error signal suitable for angular tracking.

Heterodyne Doppler 1-microm lidar measurement of reduced effective telescope aperture due to atmospheric turbulence

We performed an experimental study on the effect of atmospheric turbulence on heterodyne and direct detection lidar at 1 microm, employing a pulsed Nd:YAG bistatic focused beam lidar that permitted simultaneous heterodyne and direct detection of the same lidar returns. The average carrier-to-noise ratio and statistical fluctuation level in the lidar return signals were measured in various experimental and atmospheric conditions. The results showed that atmospheric turbulence could reduce the effective receiver telescope diameter of the l-microm heterodyne lidar to <5cm at a relatively short range of approximately 450 m near the ground. The observed effective telescope aperture and heterodyne detection efficiency varied during the day as the atmospheric turbulence level changed. At this time, we are not able to compare our experimental lidar data to a rigorous atmospheric turbulence and lidar detection theory which includes independently variable transmitter, receiver, and detector geometry. It is interesting to note, however, that the observed limitation of the effective receiver aperture was similar in functional form with those predictions based on the heterodyne wavefront detection theory by D. L. Fried [Proc. IEEE 55, 57-67 (1967)] and the heterodyne lidar detection theory for a fixed monostatic system by S. F. Clifford and S. Wandzura [Appl. Opt. 20, 514-516 (1981)]. We have also applied such an effective receiver aperture limitation to predict the system performance for a heterodyne Ho lidar operating at 2 microm.

Coherent lidar airborne windshear sensor: performance evaluation

National attention has focused on the critical problem of detecting and avoiding windshear since the crash on 2 Aug. 1985 of a Lockheed L-1011 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As part of the NASA/FAA National Integrated Windshear Program, we have defined a measurable windshear hazard index that can be remotely sensed from an aircraft, to give the pilot information about the wind conditions he will experience at some later time if he continues along the present flight path. A technology analysis and end-to-end performance simulation measuring signal-to-noise ratios and resulting wind velocity errors for competing coherent laser radar (lidar) systems have been carried out. The results show that a Ho:YAG lidar at a wavelength of 2.1 microm and a CO(2) lidar at 10.6 microm can give the pilot information about the line-of-sight component of a windshear threat from his present position to a region extending 2-4 km in front of the aircraft. This constitutes a warning time of 20-40 s, even in conditions of moderately heavy precipitation. Using these results, a Coherent Lidar Airborne Shear Sensor (CLASS) that uses a Q-switched CO(2) laser at 10.6 microm is being designed and developed for flight evaluation in the fall of 1991.

Eye-safe coherent laser radar system at 2.1 microm using Tm,Ho:YAG lasers

An eye-safe pulsed coherent laser radar has been developed by using single-frequency Tm,Ho:YAG lasers and heterodyne detection. Returns from a mountainside located 145 km from the laser radar system and the measurement of wind velocity to ranges exceeding 20 km have been demonstrated with transmitted pulse energies of 22 mJ.

Frequency-offset, solid-state laser coherent Doppler velocity measurements of high-speed targets

Diode-pumped, single-frequency Nd:YAG lasers were used to measure velocities of laser-accelerated targets over a range of 0.1 to greater than 2 km/sec. A 1-GHz optical heterodyne receiver was used with a tunable, frequencyoffset local oscillator to compensate for Doppler shifts of as much as 4 GHz.