SOLID-STATE COHERENT LASER-RADAR WIND-FIELD MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

Diode-pumped solid-state pulsed coherent laser radar systems have rece ntly been developed at Coherent Technologies, Inc., for the remote mea surement of atmospheric wind fields. Flashlamp-pumped systems have bee n utilized since 1990 for obtaining wind field measurements. These fla shlamp-pumped lidar systems have been applied to wind profiling. aircr aft-wake vortex measurements, airport wind shear and gust front monito ring, military cargo air drops and many other applications. The diode pumped coherent lidar systems currently available are capable of near turnkey operation. The Tm:YAG laser transceivers operate at 2.02 mu m with output pulse energies of 1-10 mJ with PRFs of 1000 to 100 Hz, res pectively. Range resolutions of 30-75 m are typical. A real,time lidar signal processor has also been developed for collecting and analysing laser radar (lidar) data. The signal processor is based on a commerci al PC architecture and offers a real-time data acquisition, analysis, display, recording and playback environment. Wind measurements and ove rall system performance results will be presented. Wind measurement pe rformance. for a variety of applications, is presented using the flash lamp- and diode-pumped coherent lidars including measured wind profile s from ground and on aircraft, wake vortex tracking results, and examp le flows over mountain terrain.