Remote sensing of atmospheric winds using speckleturbulence interaction, a CO(2) laser, and optical heterodyne detection

Speckle-turbulence interaction can be utilized to measure the vector wind in a plane perpendicular to the line of sight from a laser transmitter to a target. A continuous wave source of around 1 W and operating at 10.6 microm, in conjunction with an optical heterodyne receiver, has been used to measure atmospheric winds along horizontal paths. A theoretical basis, the experimental apparatus, processing techniques, and experimental results are presented. The technique has been demonstrated for remote sensing of atmospheric winds along horizontal paths but also has potential for global remote sensing of atmospheric winds and for onboard wind shear detection systems for aircraft. The results show that rms accuracies of the order of 0.5 m/s are possible with averaging times as short as 2 s.