Gated imaging LIDAR systems for remote sensing identification and classification of aerosol particulates

摘要

The problem of imaging airborne particulate is overcome by the use of a Gated Back-Scattering Imaging Lidar system. Standard video systems are not capable of identifying most particulate or biological elements. By using ultra short pulsed laser signals exclusively tuned for specific atmospheric and aerosol conditions, Lidar systems are capable of identification of specific airborne particulate. A gated Lidar system can be adjusted to return a signal from a specific layer located within a column of the atmosphere. The operator can vary the width of the investigated layer and the relative location of this layer within the atmosphere. Multiple receiver systems are capable of imaging numerous layers simultaneously. One of the major advantages of gated Lidar is that back scatter from layers before and after the region to be searched is reduced to zero. This discrimination in layer searching will increase the signal to noise ratio of the system, substantially increasing the likelihood of target recognition. These systems are used for the detection of biological constituents, atmospheric pollutants and wind shear detection.