Monte Carlo Simulation and Analysis of Round-Trip Turbulence Effects on Ladar for Unresolved Target Detection

Abstract

The effects of round-trip atmospheric turbulence on ladar are being investigated using a Monte Carlo code with many phase-screens to simulate atmospheric turbulence effects. These phase-screens are located along the outward path of the laser-mode and the inward path of the backscattered laser speckle pattern. The targets used are variable in size and smaller than the propagated laser-mode transverse dimension and are therefore termed "unresolved." In this paper previous round-trip turbulence analyses and data are reviewed, and the current Monte Carlo simulation code is discussed. Simulation results to date are presented indicating that intensity fluctuations or "scintillation" is best described by a new two-parameter K-distribution probability density function. This intensity distribution may then be used in deriving a ladar receiver-operating-characteristic for determining the target detection probability including round-trip turbulence.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA394300

Entities

People

  • Douglas G. Youmans
  • V. S. Gudimetla

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amplitude
  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Equations
  • Fresnel Zones
  • Intensity
  • Laser Radar
  • Lasers
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Random Variables
  • Simulations
  • Statistics
  • Turbulence
  • Wind
  • Wind Velocity

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy