SBIR Phase I: Eyesafe Laser Transmitter for Clear Air Turbulence Warning Systems

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将展示一种新型人眼安全激光发射机集成到商业客机的晴空湍流(CAT)预警系统中的可行性。CAT预警系统是一种相干激光雷达，可以测量前向飞行路径上的风速，并向飞行员发出湍流风情况的警报。与现有的高功率安全眼发射机相比，提出的高功率眼安全二极管泵浦固态激光发射机采用了一种不需要液体冷却剂的新设计。因此，与现有的人眼安全发射机相比，建议的发射机需要的体积、重量和主要功率要小得多，使其适合于空中应用，如猫警报。建议的发射机提供Q开关输出，具有脉冲能量、脉冲重复频率和脉冲持续时间，这些都是相干激光雷达测风的理想选择。在第一阶段，将进行关键的实验室演示，并开发高功率发射机设计，以展示拟议发射机集成到相干激光雷达收发机中的可行性。在第二阶段的资助下，将展示一个完整的相干激光雷达收发机。拟议的人眼安全激光发射机将适用于主要功率、重量和体积受到限制的应用，特别是机载和星载遥感。该发射器将用于商业航空中的晴朗空气湍流监测，以及机载和航站楼环境中的尾涡避免和交通监测。该发射器还将用于从太空测量全球风，用于天气预报和建模。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of a novel eyesafe laser transmitter for integration into a clear air turbulence (CAT) warning system for commercial airliners. The CAT warning system is a coherent laser radar that measures wind speed in the forward flight path and alerts the pilot to turbulent wind conditions. The proposed high-power eyesafe diode-pumped solid-state laser transmitter utilizes a novel design that does not require liquid coolants, in contrast with existing high-power eyesafe transmitters. As a result the proposed transmitter requires significantly less volume, weight, and prime power than existing eyesafe transmitters, making it suitable for airborne applications such as CAT warning. The proposed transmitter delivers Q-switched output with pulse energies, pulse repetition frequencies, and pulse durations which are ideal for coherent laser radar wind sensing. In Phase I, key laboratory demonstrations will be performed, and a high-power transmitter design will be developed, to show feasibility of the proposed transmitter for integration into a coherent laser radar transceiver. A complete coherent laser radar transceiver would be demonstrated with Phase II funding. The proposed eyesafe laser transmitter will be useful for applications in which prime power, weight, and volume are restricted, in particular for airborne and spaceborne remote sensing. The transmitter will be of use in commercial aviation for clear air turbulence monitoring, and for wake vortex avoidance and traffic monitoring, both airborne and in the terminal environment. The transmitter will also be useful for measuring global winds from space for weather forecasting and modeling.