A general-purpose lidar system model with experimental validation in fog oil smoke conditions

A general-purpose remote sensing lidar system model has been developed for use with aerosol targets as well as hard targets in various atmospheric conditions (clear, air, rain, snow, fog) and battlefield aerosol smoke conditions to model the actual analogue return waveform. A description of the model with equations and some of the aerosol parameters are presented. An empirically determined impulse response function from a commercially developed short-range system that operates at 0.905 μm is used in the prediction of the analogue output waveform for this particular system. The computed waveforms show the effects of backscatter for aerosol smoke conditions. Some experimental validation of the model for a hard target in military fog oil smoke is shown. This model will be used to predict performance of the current lidar sensor as well as other sensors under various other atmospheric and battlefield smoke conditions.