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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

Laser Radar

Progress and Opportunities
in Active Electro-Optical Sensing

Committee on Review of Advancements in Active Electro-Optical Systems
to Avoid Technological Surprise Adverse to U.S. National Security

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
               OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS    500 Fifth Street, NW    Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

This study was supported by Contract HHM402-10-D-0036-DO#10 between the Department of the Army and the National Academy of Sciences. Any views or observations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-30216-6

International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-30216-1

Limited copies of this report are available from:

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Copyright 2014 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

COMMITTEE ON REVIEW OF ADVANCEMENTS IN ACTIVE ELECTRO-OPTICAL SYSTEMS TO AVOID TECHNOLOGICAL SURPRISE ADVERSE TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY

PAUL F. McMANAMON, University of Dayton, Chair

WALTER F. BUELL, The Aerospace Corporation, Vice Chair

MELISSA G. CHOI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

JOHN W. DEVITT, Raytheon Vision Systems

ELSA GARMIRE, Dartmouth College

GARY W. KAMERMAN, FastMetrix, Inc.

KENNETH A. KRESS, KBK Consulting, Inc.

JEANETTE LURIER, Raytheon

PRADIP MITRA, DRS Technologies

PETER F. MOULTON, Q-Peak, Inc.

JONATHAN M. SMITH, University of Pennsylvania

ABBIE WATNIK, Naval Research Laboratory

ELI YABLONOVITCH, University of California, Berkeley

Staff

TERRY JAGGERS, Board Director

GREGORY EYRING, Study Director

DANIEL E.J. TALMAGE, JR., Program Officer

SARAH CAPOTE, Research Associate (until March 2013)

DIONNA ALI, Research Assistant

CHRIS JONES, Financial Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

Preface

In today’s world, the range of technologies with the potential to threaten the security of U.S. military forces is extremely broad. These include developments in explosive materials, sensors, control systems, robotics, satellite systems, and computing power, to name just a few. Such technologies have not only enhanced the capabilities of U.S. military forces, but also offer enhanced offensive capabilities to potential adversaries—either directly through the development of more sophisticated weapons, or more indirectly through opportunities for interrupting the function of defensive U.S. military systems. Passive and active electro-optical (EO) sensing technologies are prime examples.

In 2010, the National Research Council (NRC) published the report Seeing Photons: Progress and Limits of Visible and Infrared Sensor Arrays. That report focused on key passive sensor technologies and concluded that detector technology was nearing background-limited infrared photodetection (BLIP) for many tactical scenarios, and that therefore new detectors were unlikely to provide any “surprise” technologies.

This report builds upon and expands the scope of the 2010 report by considering the potential of active electro-optical (EO) technologies to create surprise; i.e., systems that use a source of visible or infrared light (typically but not always a laser) to interrogate a target in combination with sensitive detectors and processors to analyze the returned light. The addition of an interrogating light source to the system adds rich new phenomenologies that enable new capabilities to be explored.

In late 2011, the intelligence community, with the U.S. Army as the lead, approached the NRC to conduct a study to evaluate the potential of active EO systems to generate technological surprise. In response, the NRC formed the ad hoc Committee on Review of Advancements in Active Electro-Optical Systems to Avoid Technological Surprise Adverse to U.S. National Security, and the study contract was signed in September of 2012. The statement of task given to the committee is as follows:

The NRC ad hoc committee will:

• Evaluate the fundamental, physical limits to active electro-optical (EO) sensor technologies with potential military utility; elucidate tradeoffs among technologies including: direct and heterodyne systems, scanning and flash ladar, Geiger mode, linear mode, and polarization based ladar, synthetic aperture vs. real beam ladar; and parameters including sensitivity, dynamic range, polarization sensitivity, etc. Compare these limits to the near term state-of-the-art, identifying the scaling laws and technical and other impediments currently restricting progress.

• Identify key technologies that may help overcome the impediments within a 5-10 year timeframe, the implications for future military applications, and any significant indicators of programs to develop such applications. Speculate on technologies and applications of relevance that are high impact wildcards with feasible deployment within 10 years. Discuss available laser illumination technologies, including wall-plug efficiency. Femtosecond pulse width laser sources should be considered. Discuss available detector/receiver approaches and technologies. Discuss laser beam steering approaches. Discuss processing approaches to convert ladar data into useable information.

• Consider the pros and cons of implementing each existing or emerging technology, such as noise, dynamic range, processing or bandwidth bottlenecks, hardening, power consumption,

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

weight, etc. Identify which state and non-state actors currently lead worldwide funding, research, and development for the key technologies. Highlight the scale, scope, and particular strengths of these research and development efforts, as well as predicted trends, timescales, and commercial drivers.

• Evaluate the potential uses of active EO sensing technologies, to include 3D mapping and multi-discriminate laser radar technologies. Laser vibration detection, atmospheric compensation, multiple illumination wavelengths, polarization, and speckle considerations should be included as methods of determining object identity and status.

A report will be authored by the committee addressing the foregoing tasks.

This has been a challenging effort because of the breadth of active EO sensing modalities and contributing technologies. A further complication is that discussion of military or dual-use applications of a technology is always limited by classification issues or other restrictions. The main body of this report is unclassified. Where possible we tried to use unclassified, publicly available sources to discuss the areas covered in the statement of task

This report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with the procedures approved by the Report Review Committee of the NRC. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of the report: Steven R. Brueck, University of New Mexico, Joseph Buck, Fieldcraft Scientific, Ronald G. Driggers, Naval Research Laboratory, James R. Fienup (NAE), University of Rochester, Robert Q. Fugate (NAE), New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, William Happer (NAS), Princeton University, Sumanth Kaushik, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Dennis K. Killinger, University of South Florida, Paul D. Nielsen (NAE), Software Engineering Institute, and Julie J.C.H. Ryan, George Washington University,

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Edwin P. Przybylowicz, Eastman Kodak Company. Appointed by the NRC, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

The committee also thanks the NRC staff for its dedicated work, in particular Greg Eyring, the study director, and Dionna Ali, who managed the administrative and logistical aspects with grace and efficiency.

Paul McManamon, Chair

Walter Buell, Vice Chair

Committee on Review of Advancements in Active Electro-Optical Systems to Avoid Technological Surprise Adverse to U.S. National Security

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×

Acronyms

1-D one-dimensional
2-D two-dimensional
3-D three-dimensional
 
AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory
A-GNR armchair-edge-boundary graphene nanoribbons
ALIRT Airborne Ladar Imaging Research Testbed
ALMDS Airborne Laser Mine Detection System
ALS airborne laser scanning
APD avalanche photodiode
ASE amplified spontaneous emission
 
BLIP background-limited infrared photodetector
BTEX benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene
 
CALIOP Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization
CCD charge-coupled device
CLEAR Center for Lidar Environmental and Atmospheric Research
CMOS complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
COD catastrophic optical destruction
CONOPS concept of operations
COP coefficient of performance
CPA chirped pulse amplification
CPM critical phase matching
 
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DAS detector angular sub-tense
DAWN Doppler aerosol wind lidar
DBR distributed Bragg reflector
DIAL differential absorption lidar
DISC differential scatter lidar
DOP degree of polarization
DPAL diode-pumped alkali laser
DTED digital terrain elevation data
DWELL quantum dot in the well
 
EO electro-optical
ESA European Space Agency, also excited state absorption
ESPI electronic speckle-pattern interferometry
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×
 
FFT fast Fourier transform
FLIR forward looking infrared
FM frequency-modulated
FMCW frequency-modulated, continuous-wave
FOPEN foliage penetration
FOV field of view
FPA focal plane array
FSM fast steering mirror
FTIR Fourier transform infrared
FWHM full width at half maximum
 
GM-APD Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode
GPS global positioning system
GPU graphics processor unit
GQD graphene quantum dot
GSD ground sample distance
GVD group velocity dispersion
 
HALOE High Altitude Lidar Operational Experiment
HDVIP high-density vertically integrated photodiode
HME home-made explosive
 
ICCD intensified charge-coupled device
ICL interband cascade laser
IDCA integrated detector/cooler assembly
IFF identify friend or foe
IR infrared
IR&D internal research and development
ISR intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations
 
JHPSSL Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser program
 
Ladar laser detection and ranging
LASCA laser speckle contrast analysis
LFM linear frequency-modulated
LIBS laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Lidar light detection and ranging
LIF laser-induced fluorescence
LIMARS Laser Imaging and Ranging System
LM-APD linear-mode avalanche photodiode
LO local oscillator
LOCAAS Low Cost Autonomous Attack System
LPE liquid phase epitaxy
LR-BSDS Long Range Biological Standoff Detection System
LWIR long-wavelength infrared
 
MCDS multiple correlated double sampling
MSM metal semiconductor metal
MBE molecular beam epitaxy
Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×
MIMO multiple input, multiple output
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MLE maximum likely estimation
MOVPE metal organic vapor phase epitaxy
MPE maximum permissible exposure
MWIR mid-wavelength infrared
 
NA numerical aperture
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NCPM non-critical phase matching
NDVI normalized difference vegetation index
NEI noise equivalent input
NEPh noise equivalent photons
NETD noise equivalent temperature difference
NIF National Ignition Facility
NIIRS national imagery interpretability rating
NIR near infrared
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
NPL National Physics Laboratory
NRC National Research Council
NRI negative refractive index
 
OAWL optical autocovariance wind lidar
OPA optical parametric amplifier
OPD optical path difference
OPG optical parametric generator
OPL optical phase-locked loop
OPO optical parametric oscillator
OSA optical spectrum analyzer
 
PC photonic crystal
PED processing, exploitation, and dissemination
PIN p-doped-intrinsic (undoped)-n-doped
PMT photomultiplier tube
PNR polarization non-reciprocity
PRF pulse repetition frequency
PSD power spectral density
QCL quantum cascade laser
QCW quasi-continuous wave
QD quantum dot
QDIP quantum dot infrared photodetectors
QE quantum efficiency
QPM quasi-phase matching
QWIP quantum well infrared photodetector
 
R&D research and development
Radar radio detection and ranging
RER relative edge response
RF radio frequency
RHI range-height indicator
ROIC read out integrated circuit
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
×
RRDI range-resolved Doppler image
RULLI remote ultra-low light level imaging
 
SAL synthetic aperture laser ladar
SALTI Synthetic Aperture Lidar Tactical Imaging
SAR synthetic aperture radar
SBS stimulated Brillouin scattering
SC supercontinuum
SCM single carrier multiplication
SERS surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
SL superlattice
SNCR signal-to-noise and clutter ratio
SNL Sandia National Laboratories
SNR signal-to-noise ratio
SPGD stochastic parallel gradient descent
SPI 3-D Standoff Precision Identification in Three Dimensions
SPIDAR spatially processed image detection and ranging
SPM self-phase modulation
SPS spectral pattern sampling
SR spectral reflectance
SRL scanning Raman lidar
SVI spectral vegetation index
SVM support vector machines
SWaP size, weight, and power
SZ surf zone
 
TCPED tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination
TDLAS tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy
TEC thermoelectric cooler
TE-IPD transferred-electron intensified photodiode
TERCOM terrain contour matching
ToF time of flight
 
UAV unmanned aerial vehicle
UV ultraviolet
 
VAD velocity azimuth detector
VCSEL vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode laser
VIPA virtually imaged phased array
VSW very shallow water
 
WANDER wavelength normalized depolarization ratios
 
YAG yttrium aluminum garnet
 
ZDW zero dispersion wavelength
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Laser Radar: Progress and Opportunities in Active Electro-Optical Sensing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18733.
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In today's world, the range of technologies with the potential to threaten the security of U.S. military forces is extremely broad. These include developments in explosive materials, sensors, control systems, robotics, satellite systems, and computing power, to name just a few. Such technologies have not only enhanced the capabilities of U.S. military forces, but also offer enhanced offensive capabilities to potential adversaries - either directly through the development of more sophisticated weapons, or more indirectly through opportunities for interrupting the function of defensive U.S. military systems. Passive and active electro-optical (EO) sensing technologies are prime examples.

Laser Radar considers the potential of active EO technologies to create surprise; i.e., systems that use a source of visible or infrared light to interrogate a target in combination with sensitive detectors and processors to analyze the returned light. The addition of an interrogating light source to the system adds rich new phenomenologies that enable new capabilities to be explored. This report evaluates the fundamental, physical limits to active EO sensor technologies with potential military utility; identifies key technologies that may help overcome the impediments within a 5-10 year timeframe; considers the pros and cons of implementing each existing or emerging technology; and evaluates the potential uses of active EO sensing technologies, including 3D mapping and multi-discriminate laser radar technologies.

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