Development of a Novel Wind Lidar

This proposal is to develop a new incoherent Doppler lj.dar system for atmospheric wind measurement with a high accuracy over a few tens of kilometer range from a ground based or airborne! platform. This sensor is based on the pseudo-random modulatioii cw ladar technique in conjunction with a new incoherent Dop'pler lidar method# in which the return PEN laser signal is passec^ through a Doppler filter before being digitally processed to datejcmine range resolved wind velocity in real time. In the baseline system configuration, a few seconds' signal integration will I3rovide the required signal to noise ratio for a few percan'b accuracy measurement which will be corresponding to 1 m/s accurac:y over a 50 m/sec dynamic range. consisting of a transmitter module, PEN data module and a receiver module, the sensor will ha ciompact and lightweight with low power consumption and low cost. In this novel configuration# the sensor will be intrinsically inssinsitive to noise, background radiation, and other system bias, thereby performing autonomous and maintenance-free operations. Phase I efforts will encompass the feasibility experiment for the concept, critical system analysis, and the preliminary system design.