Identification of air and sea-surface targets with a laser range profiler

Abstract

Current coastal operations have to deal with threats at short range in complex environments with both neutral and hostile targets. There is a need for fast identification, which is possible with a laser range profiler. A number of field trials have been conducted to validate the concept of identification with a laser range profile. A laser range profiler with a high bandwidth, fast laser receiver was used to perform tests on the capability of a laser range profiler for ship identification. Typical rise and fall times are 2 ns corresponding to a range resolution of 0.6 meter. The experimental profiles of the ships and simulated range profiles based on 3D target models show very good correspondence. It is shown that laser range profiles match closely the geometric structure of the ship. Furthermore, the good match between experimental and simulated laser range profiles means that a database of laser range signatures can be constructed from 3D-models, thus simplifying the database creation. Based on the experiments a system model was made for the range profiling of air targets. The validated system model shows that air targets can be identified at ranges of several tens of kilometers. An identification algorithm was used to distinguish three aircraft from their simulated range profile with good results.