Development of a 1319 nm Laser Radar using Fiber-Optics and RF Pulse Compression: Receiver Characterization

• Main Authors: Christopher Allen Sekken, Christopher Allen, Sekken Kenny Chong, Yanki Cobanoglu, Sivaprasad Gogineni
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.21.3256; http://rsl.ukans.edu/publications/documents/Allen2001_CLCR01paper.pdf

Introduction Satellites carrying lidars for measuring ice sheet surface elevation and vegetation canopy heights are scheduled to be launched in the next few years. To achieve the necessary resolution and sensitivity, lidars on these satellites use short duration, high peak power transmit pulses. These systems typically operate with a low pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs). The high peak power operation results in limited lidar lifetime and the low PRF provides sparse spatial samples along the satellite track. To overcome these limitations, at The University of Kansas we are developing a low peak power laser radar incorporating modern radar techniques and commercially available fiber-optic technologies. We use radio frequency (RF) pulse compression and digital signal processing to achieve the receiver sensitivity needed for spaceborne applicatons when transmit powers of less than 10 W are used. Compared to high peak power lidars, our system also has a higher PRF and can provide