AIRCRAFT WAKE VORTEX DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT WITH PULSED SOLID-STATE COHERENT LASER-RADAR

Pulsed solid-state coherent laser radar (lidar) systems can measure ra dial wind velocity to precisions well below 1 ms(-1) at spatial scales on the order of 30-50 m and to ranges of several kilometres. This cap ability is appropriate for a variety of measurement objectives in the airport terminal area. Wake vortex detection and tracking is one of th e primary objectives currently being evaluated by regulatory agencies in the United States and elsewhere. Up to now, noninvasive measurement of wake vortex properties has been limited to short-range continuous- wave lidar systems. This paper discusses this application and presents theoretical analysis and experimental results for pulsed 2 mu m coher ent lidar. Detection, tracking, and measurement results are presented for sample DC10, 757, and 727 aircraft landings from a laser radar wak e vortex database compiled in 1993 at Denver Stapleton International A irport.