DE Optical Turbulence Collection Sensor

To support development of Directed Energy (DE) decision aids and to characterize optical turbulence along arbitrary slant paths, Trex in collaboration with GTRI proposes to develop an eye-safe Turbulence Surveillance LIDAR (TSL). TSL is based on a synergistic coupling of a Differential Image Motion (DIM) LIDAR with a passive DIM Monitor (DIMM). The DIM LIDAR determines vertical profiles of the refractive index structure parameter Cn2 by measuring differential tilt of laser beacons created by a pulsed laser at different heights. The passive DIM Monitor measures a path-integrated value of Cn2 over the entire atmosphere by imaging natural stars, thereby increasing the range of turbulence measurements up to 10km. During Phase-II the following tasks will be performed: The proof-of-concept TSL LIDAR design will be developed; The TSL LIDAR will be assembled and LIDAR software will be developed and debugged; The sub-systems will be tested; The passive DIM Monitor will be assembled and tested; The inversion algorithm will be optimized and passive DIM Monitor software will be updated; An interface with the TSL LIDAR will be developed;; The passive DIM Monitor will be integrated with the TSL LIDAR; A fully integrated TSL system will be field-tested and demonstrated.