Discrimination Techniques for a Highly Accurate Laser-Sheet Anemometer

Abstract

This paper discusses a laser anemometer based on projected light sheets and using a sequence of non-linear discrimination stages in both optics and electronics. Innovative digital correlation techniques yield significantly more accurate transit time measurements than can be obtained from equivalent fringe or two-spot systems. Enhancements of signal processing based upon a priori knowledge of the optical sheet definition and the measurement environment result in up to an order of magnitude increase in accuracy.