CONCEALED HELICOPTER SENSOR

THIS IS A PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A LASER ACOUSTIC DOPPLER SENSOR (LADS), FOR DETECTING CONCEALED MILITARY HARDWARE, SUCH AS A HELICOPTER, HOVERING BEHIND AN OBSTRUCTION OR FLYING NAP OF THE EARTH. RECENT ADVANCES IN THE TECHNOLOGY OF LIDAR, PULSED LASERS, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING HAVE PRODUCED AN EXCELLENT CANDIDATE FOR SOLVING THIS CRITICAL PROBLEM. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM IS A LASER DOPPLER DETECTION AND RANGING SYSTEM THAT PROJECTS LIGHT FROM A PULSED LASER BY MEANS OF A CASSEGRAINEAN TELESCOPE TO A REGION NEAR THE SUSPECTED LOCATION OF CONCEALMENT. LIGHT FROM THE LASER UDERGOES SCATTERING AND ABSORPTION BY AIRBORNE PARTICLES AND GASES IN THE VICINITY OF THE MILITARY HARDWARE. THE LIGHT WHICH IS SCATTERED BACK TO THE SENDER CARRIES THE SIGNATURE OF THE HELICOPTER. A NOVEL SIGNAL PROCESSING PROCEDURE CAN IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE PROCESS BY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL EXAMINE SIGNATURES OF MILITARY HARDWARE ON THE BACKSCATTERED SIGNAL BOTH EXPERIMENTALLY AND ANALYTICALLY.