Speckle phenomena are a first order consideration and quite often are the dominating factor in determining the specific performance of a coherent optical LIDAR. This experimental program is directed toward characterizing a coherent array receiver from the specific viewpoint of developing a "smart" processor which can adoptively sum, in a non-linear fashion, the outputs from the heterodyning arrav to achieve an overall receiver output with less speckle degradation. If successful, this concept enables the achievement of either improved system performance or a reduction in laser power or system aperture for the same performance as a single element coherent receiver. These results significantly impact the design of both coherent Doppler wind and coherent DIAL sensors.
