Patent ID: 8355120
Filing Date: 2013-01-15
Classification: G01P,G01S,Y02A

Abstract:
1. A method of obtaining atmospheric wind profiles, using a Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (i.e., a DASH) interferometer as a direct detection system of a Doppler wind Light Detection and Ranging (i.e., a LIDAR) instrument, wherein the LIDAR instrument includes a front end and a back end, wherein the front end includes a laser and a telescope, wherein said back end includes said DASH interferometer, a readout electronics module and an instrument control and data management module, wherein the instrument control and data management module includes a computer processor executing a computer executable program code, that when executed by the computer processor performs the method comprising: in the front end of the LIDAR instrument residing in one of a space borne platform, an airborne platform and a ground station platform, illuminating an atmosphere using a laser signal directed towards the atmosphere, wherein the laser signal directed towards the atmosphere is emitted by the laser residing in the front end of the LIDAR instrument; collecting, by the telescope, a backscattered light return signal, backscattered by the atmosphere, after the atmosphere is illuminated by the laser; feeding the backscattered light return signal directly into said DASH interferometer, residing in said back end of the LIDAR instrument, through entrance optics, after reflections of the backscattered light return signal on a primary mirror and a secondary mirror of the telescope; superimposing, by said DASH interferometer, a plurality of interference fringes of wavenumber dependent spatial frequencies onto the backscattered light return signal; imaging, on an array detector by exit optics, the backscattered light return signal including the plurality of interference fringes of wavenumber dependent spatial frequencies superimposed onto the backscattered light return signal; recording, by the array detector, the plurality of interference fringes of wavenumber dependent spatial frequencies imaged on the array detector, and recording the time difference such as a delay time between the laser beam signal pulse illuminating the atmosphere and the recording of the backscattered light return signal, and outputting a corresponding interference image pattern by the readout electronics module; determining, by the computer processor executing the computer executable program code, one of a Doppler shift of the backscattered light return signal with the plurality of interference fringes of wavenumber dependent spatial frequencies superimposed, and simultaneous calibration information from a simultaneously recorded calibration source signal, as a function of the delay time, and; transmitting electronically, and one of providing and displaying, over a communications network, one of a plurality of realtime and a plurality of non-realtime, atmospheric wind profiles and atmospheric wind data obtained from determining the Doppler shift of the backscattered light return signal having superimposed interference fringes of wavenumber dependent spatial frequencies to one of a plurality of users and a plurality of user devices.