Technique for remotely measuring surface pressure from a satellite using a multicolor laser ranging system

Two-color method for optical astrometry: theory and preliminary measurements with the Mark III stellar interferometer

The two-color method for interferometric astrometry provides a means of reducing the error in a stellar position measurement attributable to atmospheric turbulence. The primary limitation of the method is shown to be turbulent water vapor fluctuations, which limit the amount of improvement over a one-color measurement obtainable with a two-color estimate. Secondary atmospheric effects caused by diffraction from small refractive-index inhomogeneities and differential refraction for the observation of stars away from zenith are shown to introduce errors that behave as white noise and which should usually not be significant. Other potential error sources due to photon noise, systematic instrumental effects, and imperfect data reduction are also considered. The improvement in accuracy possible with the two-color method is estimated as a factor of 5-10 over the corresponding one-color measurement. Some preliminary two-color measurements with the Mark III stellar interferometer at Mt. Wilson are presented which demonstrate a factor of ~5 reduction in the amplitude of the atmospheric fluctuations in a stellar position measurement.

Two-color short-pulse laser altimeter measurements of ocean surface backscatter

The timing and correlation properties of pulsed laser backscatter from the ocean surface have been measured with a two-color short-pulse laser altimeter. The Nd: YAG laser transmitted 70-and 35-ps wide pulses simultaneously at 532 and 355 nm at nadir, and the time-resolved returns were recorded by a receiver with 800-ps response time. The time-resolved backscatter measured at both 330- and 1291-m altitudes showed little pulse broadening due to the submeter laser spot size. The differential delay of the 355- and 532-nm backscattered waveforms were measured with a rms error of ~75 ps. The change in aircraft altitudes also permitted the change in atmospheric pressure to be estimated by using the two-color technique.

Differential absorption lidar technique for measurement of the atmospheric pressure profile

A new two-wavelength lidar technique for remotely measuring the pressure profile using the trough absorption region between two strong lines in the oxygen A band is described. The theory of integrated vertical path, differential ranging, and horizontal path pressure measurements is given with methods to desensitize and correct for temperature effects. The properties of absorption troughs are described and shown to reduce errors due to laser frequency jitter by up to 2 orders of magnitude. A general analysis, including laser bandwidth effects, demonstrates that pressure measurements with an integrated vertical path technique are typically fifty times more accurate than with a differential ranging technique. Simulations show 0.1-0.3% accuracy for ground and Shuttle-based pressure profile and surface pressure experiments.

Target signatures for laser altimeters: an analysis

The statistical characteristics of the received signal for short pulse laser altimeters are investigated. Expressions are derived for the mean and temporal covariances of the received pulse for a direct detection receiver. The effects of laser speckle, shot noise, and surface profile of the ground target are considered. The results are used to compute the means and variances of the total received energy, propagation delay, and rms width of the received pulse. These parameters are shown to be directly related to the statistics of the surface profile.

Circular-scan streak tube with solid-state readout

A circular-scan streak tube designed for use in a laser ranging system is described. Electrostatic focusing is used between the photocathode and a microchannel plate, and electrons from the microchannel plate are proximity focused onto an output phosphor screen. Electron beam deflection is achieved by driving two orthogonal sets of deflection plate assemblies in phase quadrature at a frequency of 200 MHz. The light intensity in the output beam trace is measured by using a circular Reticon array of 720 photodiodes, which is fiberoptically coupled to the output phosphor screen of the tube. Sample measurements of frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser-pulse waveforms are given. Also the output beamwidth has been measured at the 200-MHz deflection frequency. The results suggest a limiting resolution of 33 psec for the circular-scan streak tube used for these tests.