SIMULATION OF RANGE-RESOLVED DIAL MEASUREMENTS ON IN-FLIGHT ROCKET PLUMES

Feasibility studies were carried out for a ground-based experiment usi ng the differential absorption LIDAR (DIAL) method, to measure spatial ly resolved rocket plume temperature profiles from solid-aluminized pr opellants. The core of this effort was a numerical simulation of the d ynamics of the laser-plume interaction and the retrieval of average te mperatures from the received signals using parameters appropriate to a low-altitude rocket plume. Signal-to-noise ratios were adequate for t he assumed experimental conditions and for both a clear and moderately clear atmosphere, to ensure detectability of the returned signals ove r most of the plume. For the chosen laser frequencies, the simulated e xperimental results indicate reasonable quantitative agreement with fl owfield model predictions.