Simulation of range-resolved DIAL measurements on in-flight rocket plumes

Abstract

Feasibility studies were carried out for a ground-based experiment using the differential absorption LIDAR (DIAL) method, to measure spatially resolved rocket plume temperature profiles from solid-aluminized propellants. The core of this effort was a numerical simulation of the dynamics of the laser-plume interaction and the retrieval of average temperatures from the received signals using parameters appropriate to a low-altitude rocket plume. Signal-to-noise ratios were adequate for the assumed experimental conditions and for both a clear and moderately clear atmosphere, to ensure detectability of the returned signals over most of the plume. For the chosen laser frequencies, the simulated experimental results indicate reasonable quantitative agreement with flowfield model predictions.