Recent progress on the development of a long-range, high-resolution 3D active imaging sensor is described. Diffraction limited angular resolution of 20μrad and sub-metre down range resolution are demonstrated at stand-off ranges of 8km. A scanned single pixel arrangement was employed using an all-fiber coherent lidar operating in a chirp-pulse-compression mode. The monostatic antenna had an aperture of 150mm and the image was built up using a piezoelectric tip/tilt stage positioned prior to the final expansion of the beam. Transmit/receive multiplexing was achieved with a fiber optic circulator. Examples of recently acquired images consisting of 150x150 pixels with 1000, 30cm range cells per pixel at a stand-off range 8km are presented.
We report a narrow-linewidth (Δλ = 0.4 nm) optical pulsed MOPA (master oscillator - power amplifier) source emitting 0.41 mJ pulses (1.5 kW peak power) in the eye-safe range (λ = 1548 nm). Pulse duration and repetition rate were 90 ns and 5 kHz respectively.
KEYWORDS: LIDAR, Doppler effect, Backscatter, Fiber optics, Pollution, Gas lasers, Aerosols, Signal to noise ratio, Remote sensing, 3D image processing
Recent developments in pulsed Doppler lidar technology for range-resolved aerosol and hard-target imaging applications are presented. Systems based upon CO2 and fiber-optic technologies at wavelengths of 10.6 μm and 1.5 μm respectively are described. Data are presented showing aspects of system and component development as well as recent field deployments.
High resolution ground mapping is of interest for survey and management of long linear features such as roads, railways and pipelines, and for georeferencing of areas such as flood plains for hydrological purposes. ATLAS (Airborne Topographic Laser System) is an active linescan system operating at the eyesafe wavelength of 1.5μm. Built for airborne survey, it is currently certified for use on a Twin Squirrel helicopter for operation from low levels to heights above 500 feet allowing commercial survey in built up areas. The system operates at a pulse repetition frequency of 56kHz with a line completed in 15ms, giving 36 points/m2 at the surface at the design flight speed. At each point the range to the ground is measured together with the scan angle of the system. This data is combined with a system attitude measurement from an integrated inertial navigation system and with system position derived from differential GPS data aboard the platform. A recording system captures the data with a synchronised time-stamp to enable post-processed reconstruction of a cloud of data points that will give a three-dimensional representation of the terrain, allowing the points to be located with respect to absolute Earth referenced coordinates to a precision of 5cm in three axes. This paper summarises the design, harmonisation, evaluation and performance of the system, and shows examples of survey data.
We report a MOPA (master oscillator - power amplifier) pulsed optical fiber source emitting high-brightness radiation (M2 = 1.65) in the “eye-safe” 1.55 μm region. A high pulse energy of 1.15 mJ was reached at low repetition rates while the maximum average output power was 2.2 W at a wavelength of 1562 nm.
A pulsed Doppler lidar for short range atmospheric backscatter measurements has been developed using fiber- optic components. The system employs a MOPA architecture and operates at a wavelength of 1.548 micrometers in a short pulse, low pulse energy, high repetition rate mode with a 30 mm diameter monostatic aperture. Details of the design and performance are given.
KEYWORDS: LIDAR, Doppler effect, Signal processing, Data storage, Demodulation, Data analysis, Aerosols, Data processing, Receivers, Signal to noise ratio
Signal processing for pulsed Doppler lidars utilizing distributed returns from naturally occurring aerosols is discussed. The various issues associated with both the real- time and off-line processing modes are presented and the practical solution adopted is outlined. Examples of data processed with these various schemes are presented and the relative merits of each are discussed.
The phenomenon of thermal emission form non-volatile liquid surface coatings following pulsed laser heating has been experimentally and theoretically studied with a view to developing a differential thermal imaging scheme for the remote detection of contaminated surfaces. Pulsed UV and IR laser sources have been used to generate radiance profiles from contaminants which are correlated with their characteristic spectra. Data from experiments and numerical simulations are compared and a reasonable level of agreement is demonstrated.
AEROSPATIALE, leading a European team, has just conducted a successful study, under ESA contract, to demonstrate the feasibility of a spaceborne Doppler wind lidar instrument meeting the scientific requirements of wind velocity measurements from space with high spatial resolution. A first parametric investigation, based upon the initial set of mission requirements, and supported by dedicated models and detailed trade-off studies, took account of capabilities of most promising signal processing algorithms and calibration/validation constraints: it yielded a large conically scanned instrument deemed technologically risky. A risk analysis was then carried out to propose a less challenging instrument meeting most key mission requirements. The fixed line-of-sight concept with return signal accumulation appeared as most attractive. A second set of requirements agreed upon by scientific users was therefore issued, with relaxed constraints mainly on horizontal resolution, keeping roughly the same level of wind velocity measurement accuracy. A second instrument and subsystem trade-off was then performed to eventually produce an attractive instrument concept based upon a pair of small diameter telescopes each one associated to one scanning mirror rotating stepwise around the telescope axis, which drastically reduces the detection bandwidth. Following the main contract, studies of accommodation on the International Space Station have been performed, confirming the interest of such an instrument for wind measurements from space.
AEROSPATIALE, leading a European team, has just conducted a successful study, under ESA contract, to demonstrate the feasibility of a spaceborne Doppler wind lidar instrument meeting the scientific requirements of wind velocity measurements from space with high spatial resolution. A first parametric investigation, based upon the initial set of mission requirements, and supported by dedicated models and detailed trade-off studies, took account of capabilities of the most promising signal processing algorithms and calibration/validation constrains: it yielded a large conically scanned instrument deemed technologically risky. A risk analysis was then carried out to propose a less challenging instrument meeting most key mission requirements. The fixed line-of-sight concept with return signal accumulation appeared as most attractive. A second set of requirements agreed upon by scientific users was therefore issued, with relaxed constraints mainly on horizontal resolution, keeping roughly the same level of wind velocity measurement accuracy. A second instrument and subsystem trade- off was then performed to eventually produce an attractive instrument concept based upon a pair of small diameter telescopes each one associated to one scanning mirror rotating stepwise around the telescope axis, which drastically reduces the detection bandwidth. Following the main contract, studies of accommodation on the International Space Station have been performed, confirming the interest of such an instrument for wind measurements from space.
A novel, high PRF CO2 Doppler lidar designed to make range resolved velocity and DIAL measurements to ranges of 3 to 5 km is presented. The transmitter scheme selected is a master oscillator power amplifier combination. Details of the design are given and some preliminary test results are discussed.
System considerations and the design of infrared coherent lidars utilizing tropospheric backscatter are discussed. Requirements regarding power measurement, Doppler measurement, antenna and laser energy considerations are addressed. A design for an improved CO2 laser source is proposed that meets these requirements and is compact and capable of unattended operation.
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