Patent ID: 9007569
Filing Date: 2015-04-14
Classification: G01P,G01S

Abstract:
1. A Doppler lidar sensor system comprising: a laser generator configured for producing a single frequency laser beam; a frequency modulator coupled to and in communication with the laser generator and configured for receiving the laser beam from the laser generator and for linearly modulating the frequency of the laser beam to produce a triangular waveform with a very high degree of linearity; an amplifier coupled to and in communication with the frequency modulator and configured for receiving a first portion of the modulated laser beam and amplifying the power of the first portion of the modulated laser beam; at least three transmit/receive lenses, with each of the transmit/receive lenses coupled to and in communication with the amplifier and configured for receiving a part of the first portion of the amplified laser beam from the amplifier, transmitting the part of the first portion of the laser beam, and receiving reflected radiation from the transmitted laser beam; at least three photoreceivers, with each of the photoreceivers in communication with one of the transmit receive lenses and configured for receiving the received reflected radiation from a respective transmit/receive lens and mixing the received reflected radiation with a part of a second portion of the modulated laser beam for optical heterodyne detection; at least three transmit/receive switches, with each of the transmit/receive switches disposed between and interconnecting the amplifier and one of the transmit/receive lenses, and with each of the transmit/receive switches configured for directing the received reflected radiation from their respective transmit/receive lens to one of the at least three photoreceivers; and a polarization adjuster coupled to and in communication with the frequency modulator, and configured for receiving the second portion of the modulated laser beam and adjusting the polarization of the second portion of the modulated laser beam to define a local oscillator beam for use as a local oscillator in optical heterodyne detection.