Compact LIDAR for Continuous Monitoring of Atmospheric Extinction

Operation of a ship-borne Laser Weapons System requires new capability to dynamically characterize the maritime atmosphere to predict laser effectiveness. Atmospheric attenuation data for ranges to the horizon is needed to support weapons selection against surface or airborne targets. Physical Sciences Inc., with its subsidiary Q-Peak Inc., proposes to develop and field-test an advanced, highly compact elastic backscatter lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor capable of continuous, automated mapping of atmospheric extinction. The lidar operates at a wavelength of 1.05 micron, similar to the LWS, at a transmit power consistent with eye safety. In developing the compact lidar, we chose a low pulse energy, high repetition rate architecture, the so-called MicroPulseLidar configuration. The Lidar system is composed of a novel, miniature Nd:YLF laser transmitter, a small transceiver telescope, and newly available, state-of-the-art single photon counting detectors. The laser design will be capable of producing ~100’s µJ pulse energy at several kHz repetition rate for efficient signal averaging.