Multilateration with the wide-angle laser ranging system: Ranging performance and first ground-based validation experiment

A wide-angle laser ranging system has been developed for high-precision mul tilateration, A laser transmits short pulses in a widely diverging beam tow ard a network of cube-corner retroreflectors (CCR's). Returned echoes are d etected, amplified, digitized, and timed. Impact of instrumental error sour ces, atmospheric refraction, and scintillation are discussed. The precision of the correlation method for the estimation of times of arrival and a lea st-squares adjustment method for the estimation of relative CCR coordinates is studied. Data from several ground-based experiments are analyzed, The p ositioning precision achieved is of 1-2.3 mm in relative radial coordinates and 1.8-3.8 cm in relative transverse coordinates. Results are consistent with a covariance analysis, demonstrating that, as follows: 1) systematic instrumental errors are well corrected; 2) outliers arising from coincident echoes are properly detected; 3) models for forward and inverse problems and estimation techniques are co rrect, A numerical simulation program based on these models and techniques can be used for optimizing instrumental aspects, providing extensive simulations i n various conditions and processing data from future airborne experiments t o which the system is devoted.