Numerical evaluation of the M parameter for direct detection ladar

Douglas G. Youmans; George A. Hart

doi:10.1117/12.327192

8 September 1998 Numerical evaluation of the M parameter for direct detection ladar

Douglas G. Youmans, George A. Hart

Proceedings Volume 3380, Laser Radar Technology and Applications III; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.327192
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

In direct detection ladar systems, the received irradiance statistics and, therefore, the detected photon counting statistics are determined by two parameters: the average collected irradiance value and the M parameter. The M parameter is the number of independent speckle cells, per polarization and per independent laser mode, subtended by the receiving aperture and focused onto a detector. In the 1960's Goodman analytically determined the M parameter for simple ladar geometries such as circular, square, and Gaussian shaped targets and circular and square shaped receiving apertures. This paper examines the numerical evaluation of this M parameter for arbitrarily shaped target source regions, per pixel or per pixel-range-bin, and arbitrarily shaped receiving apertures using the 2D discrete Fourier transform. This evaluation method is capable of treating the cases of high reflectivity target source regions, such as a cylinder's or cone's glint-line, and Gaussian spatial mode illumination which effectively reduce the source area. The analyses apply when round-trip atmospheric scintillation effects are negligible.

Citation Download Citation

Douglas G. Youmans and George A. Hart "Numerical evaluation of the M parameter for direct detection ladar", Proc. SPIE 3380, Laser Radar Technology and Applications III, (8 September 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.327192

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