ABSTRACT
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.
ABSTRACT
A solid-state coherent lidar system employing Nd:YAG lasers and heterodyne detection has been successfully developed, and range-resolved aerosol backscatter and wind-velocity measurements have been demonstrated.
ABSTRACT
Ground-based and space-based coherent DIAL water vapor measurement performance at the 2.1-microm Ho:YAG wavelength is presented using a Monte Carlo computer simulation. The stochastic simulation allowed improved modeling of lidar system, platform, atmospheric, and data processing parameter effects on performance and better understanding of their interrelationships. Results indicate that accurate water vapor measurements in the lower troposphere are potentially achievable from both ground- and space-based platforms.
ABSTRACT
The velocity of gas flow has been remotely measured using a technique which involves the coherent detection of scattered laser radiation from small particles suspended in the fluid utilizing the doppler effect. Suitable instrumentation for the study of wind tunnel type and atmospheric flows are described. Mainly for reasons of spatial resolution, a function of the laser wavelength, the wind tunnel system utilizes an argon laser operating at 0.5 micro. The relaxed spatial resolution requirement of atmospheric applications allows the use of a carbon dioxide laser, which has superior performance at a wavelength of 10.6 micro, a deduction made from signal-to-noise ratio considerations. Theoretical design considerations are given which consider Mie scattering predictions, two-phase flow effects, photomixing fundamentals, laser selection, spatial resolution, and spectral broadening effects. Preliminary experimental investigations using the instrumentation are detailed. The velocity profile of the flow field generated by a 1.27-cm diam subsonic jet was investigated, and the result compared favorably with a hot wire investigation conducted in the same jet. Measurements of wind velocity at a range of 50 m have also shown the considerable promise of the atmospheric system.
