Publication Date:
2019-07-13
Description:
Several types of Satellite Laser Ranging systems exist, operating with pulsed, high-energy lasers. The distance between a ground point and an orbiting satellite can be determined to within a few centimeters. A new technique substitutes pseudonoise code modulated laser diodes, which are much more compact, reliable and less costly, for the lasers now used. Since laser diode technology is only now achieving sufficiently powerful lasers, the capabilities of the new technique are investigated. Also examined are the effects of using an avalanche photodiode detector instead of a photomultiplier tube. The influence of noise terms (including background radiation, detector dark and thermal noise and speckle) that limit the system range and performance is evaluated.
Keywords:
LASERS AND MASERS
Type:
NASA-CR-182347
,
NAS 1.26:182347
,
UILU-ENG-87-2553
,
EOSL-87-007
Format:
application/pdf
