RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION - A MBR (MONOSTATIC BIDIRECTIONAL LASER REFLECTOMETER)

THE DESIGN OF LASER RADARS AND TRACKING SYSTEMS REQUIRES A LARGE BASE OF ACCURATE DATA ON THE MONOSTATIC REFLECTIVITY OF A WIDE RANGE OF TARGET MATERIALS TO FAR-FIELD LASER ILLUMINATION OF MANY DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS. FAR-FIELD MEASUREMENTS IMPLY LARGE MEASUREMENT DISTANCES AND USUALLY REQUIRE FIELD EXPERIMENTS, BUT A LABORATORY MEASUREMENT SYSTEM, RECENTLY DESIGNED AND BUILT AT SURFACE OPTICS CORPORATION, HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF OBTAINING ACCURATE, FAR-FIELD MEASUREMENTS WITHIN A SMALL LABORATORY WORKING AREA. INFORMATION OBTAINED WITH THIS INSTRUMENT IS BEING USED IN MILITARY SYSTEM STUDIES, AND HAS STIMULATED RENEWED INTEREST IN REFLECTIVITY PHENOMENA (SUCH AS THE OPPOSITION EFFECT) AT RESEARCH CENTERS AROUND THE COUNTRY AND ABROAD. DEFICIENCIES IN THIS FIRST PROTOTYPE DESIGN, HOWEVER, HAVE RESULTED IN LONG HOURS OF ADJUSTMENT AND READJUSTMENT AND DATA ACQUISITION FAR LESS EFFICIENT THAN WHAT SHOULD BE ACHIEVABLE WITH THIS TYPE OF INSTRUMENT. A PHASE I PROGRAM IS PROPOSED FOR THE DESIGN OF AN IMPROVED AND MORE EFFICIENT (I.E. AUTOMATED) MEASURMENT SYSTEM TO BE BUILT AND DEMONSTRATED IN A PHASE II PROGRAM. THE CURRENT PROTOTYPE WILL BE USED DURING THE PHASE I EFFORT AS A TEST BED FOR IMPROVED DESIGN FEATURES, CONFIGURATIONS, AND COMPONENTS.