LOW COHERENCE PULSED DOPPLER LIDAR WITH AMPLIFIED REFERENCE BEAM STORAGE

Abstract

In this paper, we have successfully developed a new low coherence pulsed Doppler lidar concept for wind speed measurements, in which a pulsed laser is used as the source for measurement and reference beam. A fraction of the transmitted pulse is stored in a fiber optic ring resonator with a path length longer than the pulse. The output of the resonator is a pulse train that is used as the reference beam and can be mixed with the Doppler shifted measurement signal. Because this reference has traveled a distance equivalent to the measurement beam’s path length, low coherence sources can be used. Inserting an erbium-doped fiber amplifier into the resonator ensures that the stored pulses do not decay in amplitude. Careful control of gain and amplified spontaneous emission is required to prevent laser oscillation while maintaining sufficient gain for the signal. Experiments prove that 16 reference pulses of sufficient amplitude and stability can be generated. Computer simulations suggest that 70 pulses should be achievable, which would be equivalent to a Doppler lidar measurement range of 2,550 m.