TARGETING/TRACKING LIDAR SYSTEMS

IT IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE TARGETING/TRACKING LIDAR SYSTEM WHICH WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF ACQUIRING, IMAGING AND TRACKING DESIGNED TARGETS AND BACKROUNDS. THE LIDAR SYSTEM WILL BE ABLE TO OPERATE OVER MULTIPLE WAVELENGTHS AND HAVE THE CAPABILITY FOR POLARIZATION ANALYSIS OF THE BACKSCATTER DATA. THE ABILITY TO ACQUIRE REAL-TIME, RANGE RESOLVED POLARIZATION ANALYSIS OF ATMOSPHERIC BACKSCATTER AT MULTIPLE WAVELENGHTS WITH CORRELATED IR IMAGERY WILL PROVIED A UNIQUE ATMOSPHERIC DATABASE. THIS DATA CAN BE USED TO SUPPORT EXISITING U.S. AIR FORCE ATMOSPHERIC MODELS FOR AEROSOLS, CLOUDS BACKGROUNDS AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES. FOR PHASE I IT IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP A SET OF ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS AND A PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR THE TARGETING/TRACKING LIDAR SYSTEM. THESE SPECIFICATIONS WILL BE THE BASIS FOR THE PHASE II DEVELOPMENT. FOR THESE SPECIFICATIONS, TRADE-OFF AVALIBILITY, TECHNICAL RISK, AND COST FOR EACH SUBSYSTEM. SUBSYSTEMS TO BE EVALUATED AND SPECIFIED INCLUDE LASER TRANSMITTER, IMAGING SYSTEM, RECEIVER AND POLARIZATION OPTICS, DETECTION SYSTEM TRACKING SYSTEM, DATA SYSTEM AND SYSTEM PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION.