2 μm LIDAR for laser-based remote sensing: flight demonstrationand application survey

A flight test of a diode-pumped solid-state 2 μm Doppler Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) system was conducted on-board the NASA Ames DC-8 Airborne Laboratory. This was the first ever airborne demonstration of a 2 μm diode-pumped solid-state Doppler LIDAR. The LIDAR performance was verified by comparing the true-airspeed (TAS) estimate with that found using the pneumatic air data system; excellent agreement was found. The capabilities of this pulsed 2 μm Doppler LIDAR system include high bandwidth air data determination without the need for extensive forebody calibration, remote wind profiling as far as several kilometers away from the aircraft, eye-safe laser transmission at 2 μm, and diode-pumped solid-state design for compact construction and reliable performance