An Experimental Investigation of Ranging and Tracking with a Coherent Laser Radar

Abstract

CO2 laser radar systems with either direct or heterodyne detection are being used for both atmospheric lidar measurements and ranging on 'hard' targets. A TEA-CO2 laser radar has been developed at DREV to evaluate, with field measurements, the possible role of 10.6-μm pulsed coherent laser radars for the ranging and angle tracking of airborne targets. To determine the signal-tonoise ratio required by a laser radar to detect a target with a desired probability of detection and a given false alarm rate, it is first necessary to characterize the signal returns from the targets of interest. This paper will present part of a recent investigation on the characteristics of the returns from standard reference targets obtained with heterodyne detection. A comparison will be made with similar measurements carried out with direct detection.