REMOTE-SENSING OF THE EARTHS SURFACE USING SATELLITE LASER ALTIMETER

The paper considers monostatic sensing of the Earth's surface using a satellite laser altimeter. Equations relating the echo-signal delay an d duration to the satellite altitude and the variance of the heights o f the Earth surface irregularities are derived. The calculation result s are presented, which demonstrate the effect the lidar divergence ang le, the sounding angle, the state of the Earth's atmosphere, and the v ariance of the heights of the Earth surface irregularities on the alti meter measurement data.