Next Generation Wind Measurement Technology

Based upon an analytically and empirically proven Phase I baseline design, the Phase II Miniature Wind LADAR program will provide development, integration, test, and delivery of a high range resolution, high Doppler resolution Miniature Wind LADAR, which will be a revolutionary advance in real-time wind mapping, flight management and safety systems. This small, rugged Wind LADAR includes a MEMS IMU, image comparison, and GPS inputs to obtain a global stabilized coordinate 3D image, which allows coherent update of the voxels. This feature is key for the wind detection function to support rapid coherent voxel updates for detection of low speed air currents and determining the vector direction of the air current using changing view angle during pitching and direction changes. The LADAR uses an advanced phase encoded pulse compression to achieve long pulse train length for excellent Doppler resolution, while providing precise range resolution. The compression critically reduces peak pulse power by 13x for a given joule transmission, minimizing bandwidth broadening in the laser amplifiers from nonlinear effects, critical to Doppler accuracy. Upon conclusion of Phase II, the Miniature Wind LADAR system will be delivered to the Navy for testing on the NAVAIR Lakehurst Motion Platform and in operational settings.