Statistics of the residual refraction errors in laser ranging data

A theoretical model for the range error covariance was derived by assuming that the residual refraction errors are due entirely to errors in the meteorological data which are used to calculate the atmospheric correction. The properties of the covariance function are illustrated by evaluating the theoretical model for the special case of a dense network of weather stations uniformly distributed within a circle

Speckle noise in satellite based lidar systems

The lidar system model was described, and the statistics of the signal and noise at the receiver output were derived. Scattering media effects were discussed along with polarization and atmospheric turbulence. The major equations were summarized and evaluated for some typical parameters

Phase locked loop synchronization for direct detection optical PPM communication systems

Receiver timing synchronization of an optical pulse position modulation (PPM) communication system can be achieved using a phase locked loop (PLL) if the photodetector output is properly processed. The synchronization performance is shown to improve with increasing signal power and decreasing loop bandwidth. Bit error rate (BER) of the PLL synchronized PPM system is analyzed and compared to that for the perfectly synchronized system. It is shown that the increase in signal power needed to compensate for the imperfect synchronization is small (less than 0.1 dB) for loop bandwidths less than 0.1% of the slot frequency

Comparison of direct and heterodyne detection optical intersatellite communication links

The performance of direct and heterodyne detection optical intersatellite communication links are evaluated and compared. It is shown that the performance of optical links is very sensitive to the pointing and tracking errors at the transmitter and receiver. In the presence of random pointing and tracking errors, optimal antenna gains exist that will minimize the required transmitter power. In addition to limiting the antenna gains, random pointing and tracking errors also impose a power penalty in the link budget. This power penalty is between 1.6 to 3 dB for a direct detection QPPM link, and 3 to 5 dB for a heterodyne QFSK system. For the heterodyne systems, the carrier phase noise presents another major factor of performance degradation that must be considered. In contrast, the loss due to synchronization error is small. The link budgets for direct and heterodyne detection systems are evaluated. It is shown that, for systems with large pointing and tracking errors, the link budget is dominated by the spatial tracking error, and the direct detection system shows a superior performance because it is less sensitive to the spatial tracking error. On the other hand, for systems with small pointing and tracking jitters, the antenna gains are in general limited by the launch cost, and suboptimal antenna gains are often used in practice. In which case, the heterodyne system has a slightly higher power margin because of higher receiver sensitivity

Speckle noise in direct-detection lidar systems

The speckle noise is evaluated from some typical lidar systems. The governing equations are summarized. The mutual intensity function of the speckle pattern is calculated in terms of the laser radiation modes. Typical laser pulses are modeled and simplified expressions for the speckle noise power are derived. The signal-to-speckle-noise ratios for some proposed lidar systems are evaluated

Phase error statistics of a phase-locked loop synchronized direct detection optical PPM communication system

Receiver timing synchronization of an optical Pulse-Position Modulation (PPM) communication system can be achieved using a phased-locked loop (PLL), provided the photodetector output is suitably processed. The magnitude of the PLL phase error is a good indicator of the timing error at the receiver decoder. The statistics of the phase error are investigated while varying several key system parameters such as PPM order, signal and background strengths, and PPL bandwidth. A practical optical communication system utilizing a laser diode transmitter and an avalanche photodiode in the receiver is described, and the sampled phase error data are presented. A linear regression analysis is applied to the data to obtain estimates of the relational constants involving the phase error variance and incident signal power

Remote sensing of sea state by laser altimeters

The reflection of short laser pulses from the ocean surface was analyzed based on the specular point theory of scattering. The expressions for the averaged received signal, shot noise and speckle induced noise were derived for a direct detection system. It is found that the reflected laser pulses have an average shape closely related to the probability density function associated with the surface profile. This result is applied to estimate the mean sea level and significant wave height from the receiver output of the laser altimeter

Rayleigh lidar observations of gravity wave activity in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere

Forty-two monochromatic gravity wave events were observed in the 25 to 55 km altitude region during 16 nights of Rayleigh lidar measurements at Poker Flat, Alaska and Urbana, Illinois. The measured wave parameters were compared to previous radar and lidar measurements of gravity wave activity. Vertical wavelengths, lambda(z), between 2 and 11.5 km with vertical phase velocities, c(z), between 0.1 and 1 m/s were observed. Measured values of lambda(z) and c(z) were used to infer observed wave periods, T(ob), between 50 and 1000 minutes and horizontal wavelengths, lambda(x), from 25 to 2000 km. Dominant wave activity was found at vertical wavelengths between 2 to 4 km and 7 to 10 km. No seasonal variations were evident in the observed wave parameters. Vertical and horizontal wavelengths showed a clear tendency to increase with T(ob), which is consistent with recent sodium lidar studies of monochromatic wave events near the mesopause. Measured power law relationships between the wave parameters were lambda(z) varies as T(ob) sup 0.96, lambda(x) varies as T(ob) sup 1.8, and c(z) varies as T(ob) sup -0.85. The kinetic energy calculated for the monochromatic wave events varied as k(z) sup -2, k(x) sup -1, and f(ob) sup -1.7. The atmospheric scale heights calculated for each observation date range from 6.5 to 7.6 km with a mean value of 7 km. The increase of rms wind perturbations with altitude indicated an amplitude growth length of 20.9 km. The altitude profile of kinetic energy density decreased with height, suggesting that waves in this altitude region were subject to dissipation or saturation effects

The effects of random path fluctuations on the accuracy of laser ranging systems

The precision of satellite ranging systems, limited in part by atmospheric refraction and scattering, is examined. The effects of atmospheric turbulence on the accuracy of single color and multicolor ranging systems is discussed. The statistical characteristics of the random path length fluctuations induced by turbulence are examined. Correlation and structure functions are derived using several proposed models for the variations of the optical path length. For single color systems it is shown that the random path length fluctuations can limit the accuracy of a range measurement to a few centimeters. Two color systems can partially correct for the random path fluctuations so that in most cases their accuracy is limited to a few millimeters. However, at low elevation angles and over long horizontal paths two color systems can also have errors approaching a few centimeters

Rayleigh lidar observations of gravity wave activity in the upper stratosphere at Urbana, Ill.

During 13 nights of Rayleigh lidar measurements at Urbana, Ill. in 1984 to 1986, thirty-six quasi-monochromatic gravity waves were observed in the 35 to 50 km altitude region of the stratosphere. The characteristics of the waves are compared with other lidar and radar measurements of gravity waves and the theoretical models of wave saturation and dissipation phenomena. The measured vertical wavelengths ranged from 2 to 11.5 km and the measured vertical phase velocities ranged from 10 to 85 cm/s. The vertical wavelengths and vertical phase velocities were used to infer observed wave periods which ranged from 100 to 1000 min and horizontal wavelengths which ranged from 70 to 2000 km. Dominant wave activity was found at vertical wavelengths between 2 to 4 km and 7 to 10 km. No significant seasonal variations were evident in the observed parameters. Vertical and horizontal wavelengths showed a clear tendency to increase with wave periods, which is consistent with recent sodium lidar studies of quasi-monochromatic waves near the mesopause. An average amplitude growth length of 20.9 km for the rms wind perturbations was estimated from the data. Kinetic energy density associated with the waves decreased with height, suggesting that waves in this altitude region were subject to dissipation or saturation effects