Proposed Lidar Receiver Architecture for the CZMIL System

摘要

The Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar (CZMIL)' system is a new generation airborne remote sensing system.The multi-sensor system integrates a lidar system, hyperspectral camera, digital camera, and a positioning systemtogether to seamlessly record data over topographic and bathymetric environments. The recorded data is post-processedusing data fusion algorithms to generate image products. In order to amplify the amount of information contained withinthe data fed to the algorithms, the architecture of the lidar receiver is designed using numerous techniques to maximizethe quality of the recorded data. The receiver architecture employs commercial photomultiplier tubes operated in alogarithmic mode coupled to 10bit, 1GHz analog to digital converters. This architecture achieves sufficient dynamicrange to support operating the system in both terrestrial and ocean environments. The multi-channel design of the lidarsystem requires the digitization of 9 channels of optical return signal data. The resulting large data volume necessitateddesign of a novel data reduction strategy. These important aspects of the lidar receiver's design are presented. Thestrategies illustrate how the receiver's architecture is designed to optimize the fidelity of the recorded data.