An heuristic view on the signal-to-noise ratio at coherent heterodyne detection of aerosol lidar returns formed through turbulent atmosphere

Luan L. Gurdev; Tanja N. Dreischuh

doi:10.1117/12.519507

4 November 2003 An heuristic view on the signal-to-noise ratio at coherent heterodyne detection of aerosol lidar returns formed through turbulent atmosphere

Luan L. Gurdev, Tanja N. Dreischuh

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5226, 12th International School on Quantum Electronics: Laser Physics and Applications; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.519507
Event: 12th International School on Quantum Electronics Laser Physics and Applications, 2002, Varna, Bulgaria

Abstract

The main purpose of the study is to estimate the root-mean-square signal-to-noise ratio (rmsSNR) characterizing the coherent heterodyne detection of aerosol-backscattered lidar returns influenced by the turbulent fluctuations of the refrative index in the atmosphere. A general expression is obtained heuristically that describes the rmsSNR as depending on (generally turbulence-affected) the return-intensity relative variance and the ratio of the coherence area of the lidar return to the receiving-aperture area. On the basis of the expression obtained, the rmsSNR is estimated as a function of the distance (of the scattering volume) along the line of sight at different values of the wavelength of the sensing radiation, the receiving-aperture radius, the transmitted beam-pulse radius, and the refractive-index turbulent parameter C_n². It is shown that the rmsSNR values obtained at different distances under different experimental conditions are mostly near the unity, and the coherent heterodyne lidar signal should have correspondingly circular complex Gaussian statistics.

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Luan L. Gurdev and Tanja N. Dreischuh "An heuristic view on the signal-to-noise ratio at coherent heterodyne detection of aerosol lidar returns formed through turbulent atmosphere", Proc. SPIE 5226, 12th International School on Quantum Electronics: Laser Physics and Applications, (4 November 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.519507

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