Compact, Frequency Agile, Broadly Tunable, IR Differential Absorption Lidar for Remote Sensing

Remote sensing of chemical emissions from concealed sources, such as concealed chemical manufacturing plants, or internal combustion engines, from airborne and ground based mobile platforms is a high defense priority. We propose to develop an innovative, miniature, rugged, rapidly tuned, differential absorption lidar for detecting low concentrations of chemical species with sufficient sensitivity (100ppb) and accuracy (10%), for a 5-10km range. The crucial component for this lidar is a high repetition rate (60%) is obtained by employing Yb:YAG which has the smallest quantum deficit between the pump (940nm) and lase wavelenths (1.02-1.06um). Compactness, frequency agility, and broad IR tuning range are obtained by utilizing a fixed PPRTA (poling period =31um)) OPOand rapidly tuning the pump wavelength. Atmospheric and topographical backscattered signals collected by a 35cm aperture telescope are detected by a cooled HgCdTe detector. In Phase I a comprehensice design of the lidar will be performed besides feasibilty demonstration with a broad-band lidar. In Phase II, chemical specie measurements will be demonstrated with a prototype lidar.