Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of the Performance of Two-Color Laser Ranging Systems
Im, Kwaifong Eastwood
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69322
Description
Title
Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of the Performance of Two-Color Laser Ranging Systems
Author(s)
Im, Kwaifong Eastwood
Issue Date
1985
Department of Study
Electrical Engineering
Discipline
Electrical Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Engineering, Electronics and Electrical
Abstract
In satellite laser ranging, atmospheric refraction increases the optical pathlength from the ground to an orbiting satellite. Two-color laser ranging systems can be used to determine the atmospheric delay by measuring the difference in propagation times between optical pulses transmitted at the two different wavelengths. The differential propagation time can also be used to infer surface pressure.
The statistical properties of the signals reflected from the retro-reflector equipped satellites are studied. It is found that coherence interference between pulse reflections from retro-reflectors of different ranges on the array platform is the primary cause of signal fluctuations.
The performance of a cross-correlation technique for estimating the differential propagation time is analyzed by considering both shot noise and speckle. For the retro-reflector arrays, timing performance is dominated by interference induced speckle, and the differential propagation time cannot be resolved to better than the pulse widths of the received signals.
The differential timing measurements obtained over a horizontal path are analyzed. The results are used to verify both the two-color ranging measurement technique and the cross-correlation timing algorithm.
The ocean-reflected pulse measurements obtained from the airborne two-color laser altimeter experiment are presented. The reflected pulse shapes are used to infer the sea state and the ocean wind speed. The measured differential propagation times are used to verify the pressure measurement technique.
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