RANGE IMAGING LIDAR
First Claim
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1. A method of remotely sensing a fluid medium, comprising:
- a. receiving scattered light from a portion of said fluid medium, wherein said scattered light is generated along a first beam of substantially monochromatic light projected into said fluid medium along a first axis, and the operation of receiving said scattered light is nominally along a second axis that is oriented in a different direction relative to said first axis;
b. forming an image of said scattered light through an interferometer, wherein said image of said scattered light comprises a first plurality of fringes, and each fringe of said first plurality of fringes is associated with a different portion of said portion of said fluid medium at a different range;
c. detecting at least a portion of said image of said first plurality of fringes of said scattered light so as to generate a corresponding plurality of detected signals;
d. analyzing at least a first fringe of said first plurality of fringes embodied in said plurality of detected signals so as to determine at least one measure of said fluid medium within a first portion of said fluid medium at a first range; and
e. analyzing at least a second fringe of said first plurality of fringes embodied in said plurality of detected signals so as to determine at least one measure of said fluid medium within at least a second portion of said fluid medium at least a second range, wherein said first portion of said fluid medium is different from said second portion of said fluid medium, and said first range is different from said second range.
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Abstract
Light scattered by a portion of a fluid medium illuminated by a beam of substantially monochromatic light is received within a field-of-view nominally along an axis oriented in a different direction relative to the beam and processed by an interferometer to generate a corresponding fringe pattern that is detected and processed to generate at least one measure of the fluid medium at a plurality of different ranges.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1. A method of remotely sensing a fluid medium, comprising:
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a. receiving scattered light from a portion of said fluid medium, wherein said scattered light is generated along a first beam of substantially monochromatic light projected into said fluid medium along a first axis, and the operation of receiving said scattered light is nominally along a second axis that is oriented in a different direction relative to said first axis; b. forming an image of said scattered light through an interferometer, wherein said image of said scattered light comprises a first plurality of fringes, and each fringe of said first plurality of fringes is associated with a different portion of said portion of said fluid medium at a different range; c. detecting at least a portion of said image of said first plurality of fringes of said scattered light so as to generate a corresponding plurality of detected signals; d. analyzing at least a first fringe of said first plurality of fringes embodied in said plurality of detected signals so as to determine at least one measure of said fluid medium within a first portion of said fluid medium at a first range; and e. analyzing at least a second fringe of said first plurality of fringes embodied in said plurality of detected signals so as to determine at least one measure of said fluid medium within at least a second portion of said fluid medium at least a second range, wherein said first portion of said fluid medium is different from said second portion of said fluid medium, and said first range is different from said second range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A system for remotely sensing a fluid medium, comprising:
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a. a first beam of substantially monochromatic light projected into the fluid medium along a first axis; b. an interferometer configured to receive scattered light of said first beam of substantially monochromatic light from said fluid medium along a portion of said first beam of substantially monochromatic light; c. at least one of a set of receiver optics and a set of imaging optics, wherein said at least one of said set of receiver optics and said set of imaging optics comprises an optic axis along which said scattered light is received, said set of receiver optics if present is operative between said interferometer and said portion of said first beam of substantially monochromatic light, said set of imaging optics is operatively associated with or a part of said interferometer, said set of imaging optics provides for generating an image of a first plurality of fringes from said interferometer responsive to said scattered light, wherein said image of said first plurality of fringes is located at a focal plane of said set of imaging optics, and said optic axis is oriented in a different direction relative to said first axis; and d. at least one detector operatively associated with said set of imaging optics, wherein said at least one detector provides for detecting said image of said first plurality of fringes, and different fringes of said first plurality of fringes are associated with different portions of said fluid medium along said portion of said first beam of substantially monochromatic light. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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Specification