Feasibility of microwave interferometry and fourier-transform spectrometry for high-spectral-resolution sensing

Abstract

This is the final report of a one-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The primary objective of this project was to perform the necessary research and development to determine the feasibility of new ideas that, if successful, could lead to the development of future new programs in high-spectral resolution remote sensing. In active remote sensing systems, the solar illumination of a scene is replaced by a man-made source, preferably a laser beam. However, when laser beams are propagated through a scattering medium, like air, random optical path fluctuations comparable to the optical wavelength are generated giving rise to the speckle effect, which is the most severe perturbation in active remote sensing systems. The limitations introduced by the speckle effect degrade or negate the data interpretation. We sought to introduce better physical models of beam scattering that allow a more realistic simulation environment to be developed that, when applied to experimental data sets, improve their interpretability and increase the information content. Improved beam propagation models require improved knowledge of the spatio-temporal distribution of the scattering and absorbing medium. In the free atmosphere the largest contributor is water vapor in the lower troposphere. We tested the feasibility of using microwave interferometry to measure water-vapor irregularities in the boundary layer. Knowledge of these distributions enable much improved atmospheric correction algorithms for satellite imagery of the earth`s surface to be developed. For hyperspectral active remote sensing systems it is necessary to perform very high-resolution spectral measurements of the reflected laser light. Such measurements are possible with optical interferometers.