Sm. Hannon et Ja. Thomson, AIRCRAFT WAKE VORTEX DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT WITH PULSED SOLID-STATE COHERENT LASER-RADAR, J. mod. opt., 41(11), 1994, pp. 2175-2196
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.