Systems and methods for optical measurement of cross-wind
| DWPI Title: System for facilitating optical measurement of cross-wind in along-range shooting, has signal analyzer receiving signals output by optical detectors and outputting data indicative of average speed of wind along trajectory in shooting space |
| Abstract: Various technologies pertaining to optical measurement of cross-wind are described herein. A beam of light is emitted along a trajectory through a shooting space from a location of a shooter to a target using a laser. The beam is reflected by the target, and the beam is received at two optical detectors. Due to changes in the index of refraction of air along the path of the beam, an envelope signal atmospherically encoded on the beam is received at each of the two apertures at different times. A signal analyzer receives a signal from each of the detectors and outputs data indicative of an average speed of the cross-wind along the trajectory in the shooting space based upon a time delay between the signals. |
| Use: System for facilitating an optical measurement of cross-wind in along-range shooting such as greater than 700 meters distance between a weapon and a target, in military applications. |
| Advantage: The system can be increased a signal-to-noise ratio of atmospherically encoded envelope signals used to perform a cross-correlation as compared to when a non-modulated beam is used by modulating a beam as a carrier wave. The system emits the beam by a laser being wider in horizontal direction than in vertical direction in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of signals used by a signal analyzer to identify cross-wind speed. |
| Novelty: The system (100) has a first optical detector (108) comprising a first field of view. A second optical detector comprises a second field of view, where the second optical detector receives light through an aperture (112) and the light includes a reflection of a modulated beam of light from a target (102). A signal analyzer (118) demodulates a first analog signal and a second analog signal to recover an envelope signal in each of the first analog signal and the second analog signal and identifies a lag between when the envelope signal is received by the first detector and when the envelope signal is received by a second detector, where a combination of a lag and a distance output by a range finder is indicative of cross-wind speed between the system and the target. |
| Filed: 8/2/2017 |
| Application Number: US15667516A |
| Tech ID: SD 14354.1 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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