SBIR-STTR Award

Previous Doppler lidar statistical measurements of mechanicalturbulence have only been successful in discerning moderate tostrong wind field turbulence. This limitation is related to thetransmitter pulse duration which is restricted by both theavailable laser technology andthe range resolution requirements.We propose a real time dual pulsespeckle correlation techniquewhich will overcome these limitations.The range resolutionafforded by the proposed method is determined bythe individualpulse durations wheras its sensitivity to light turbulenceconditions is determined by the inter-pulse time delay. Theunique dual transmitter Air Force Phillips Laboratory MAPM lidarprovides an ideal opportunity to test this approach anddemonstrate its sensitivity and utility. With only minorhardware modifications, this systemwould be capable of remotemeasurement of wind velocity dispersions less than 0.1 m/s andwith a range resolution on the order of 50-100 m.