title: Multiple-return laser radar for three-dimensional imaging through obscurations.
abstract: A compact imaging laser radar was constructed and tested to investigate phenomenological issues in targeting, especially cases involving imaging through obscurations such as foliage and camouflage netting. The laser radar employs a Nd:YAG microchip laser that operates at a wavelength of 1.06 microm and produces pulses of 1.2-ns duration at a 3-kHz rate. The detector is a commercial indium gallium arsenide avalanche photodiode. A single computer controls the scanning mirrors and performs the digitization of the returning signal at 2 giga samples/s. A detailed description of the laser radar is presented as well as results from field experiments that examined its range accuracy capability and its ability to image a target through camouflage. Results of data collected from deciduous tree lines are also discussed to characterize the presence and quantity of multiple returns.
authors.affiliation: US Army Communications and Electronics Command Research, Development and Engineering Center, Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060, USA. bradley.schilling@nvl.army.mil
authors.forename: Bradley W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: Dallas N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.forename: Glen C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Templeton
authors.forename: Lawrence J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Mizerka
authors.forename: C Ward
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Trussell