Abstract

A number of techniques involving laser radars of various types have been examined for measuring tropospheric winds from space. These techniques range from mapping aerosol patterns and obtaining wind velocity via pattern recognition and tracking to direct measurement of wind velocity by measuring the Doppler shift of light scattered by aerosols imbedded in and moving with the wind field. This latter technique has been investigated extensively in a number of subcategories including direct detection lidars involving Fabry-Perot filters and heterodyne detection lidars using both solid-state and CO₂ lasers as transmitters.

© 1991 Optical Society of America