Abstract

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory has developed and tested the most advanced, high power, coherent CO₂ laser radar ever built. The Firepond imaging laser radar is part of a complex of sophisticated radar systems at Millstone Hill, which is located in Westford, Massachusetts. The radar site includes the L band Millstone Hill space surveillance radar and the X band Haystack wideband imaging radar. A photograph of the Millstone Hill radar site is shown in Figure 1. The CO₂ laser radar utilizes the ¹³C¹⁶O₂ isotope to avoid the effects of atmospheric attenuation and dispersion caused by atmospheric ¹²C¹⁶O₂. The laser radar uses linear frequency modulated waveforms to create two dimensional, range-Doppler images using the principles of inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR). The waveform agility of the laser radar allows a variety of radar functions to be served including acquisition and tracking.

© 1991 Optical Society of America