Practical considerations for the design of CO(2) lidar systems

Area of Science:

• Optical remote sensing
• Laser technology
• Signal processing

Background:

• Lidar (light detection and ranging) systems are crucial for remote sensing applications.
• Understanding lidar system parameters is key to optimizing target detection and characterization.
• Previous research often involved dual-laser systems, necessitating exploration of single-laser alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the performance of a 10.6-micrometer single laser lidar system.
• To analyze lidar return characteristics (amplitude, standard deviation, correlation) from diverse targets.
• To evaluate the influence of system parameters on lidar sensitivity and performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 10.6-micrometer single laser lidar system.
• Monitored return signals from foliage, hillside, and man-made targets.
• Varied lidar system divergence, mode shape, receiver field of view, alignment tolerance, repetition rate, and sampling time.

Main Results:

• System sensitivity was studied as a function of various operational and geometric parameters.
• Signal averaging and signal correlation were analyzed to assess system performance.
• Performance was found to be comparable to that of reported dual laser lidar systems.

Conclusions:

• A single laser lidar system can achieve performance comparable to dual laser systems.
• System parameters significantly influence the monitoring of target return characteristics.
• This study demonstrates the viability and effectiveness of single-laser lidar technology for remote sensing.