Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Leland, Robert P..
It has been proposed to use a high energy pulsed laser to beam power into space for satellites or a lunar base. The effects of atmospheric transmission are critical to such a system. Thermal blooming in the atmosphere can cause the beam to spread rapidly. Atmospheric turbulence can cause beam bending or beam spreading, resulting in the loss of transmitted energy that fails to hit the target receiver.
Laser Doppler radar (lidar) is widely used for remote sensing of wind velocities. Usable wavelengths for the laser are limited by the effects of atmospheric turbulence. An adaptive optical system is proposed to compensate for turbulence effects on signal power. The feasibility of an adaptive system is considered in light of the effects of speckle from the aerosol target. It is concluded that adaptive optics is a promising technique for improving the performance of a 2 micron lidar wind measurement system. The chief technical challenges are a laser that will give the required output and pulse repetition rate, a combined Hartmann sensor and heterodyne detector, and a suitable reconstruction algorithm.