Theoretical performance of a 1.5-µm satellite-borne coherent Doppler wind lidar using a planar waveguide optical amplifier with a demonstrated figure of merit: simulation of signal detection probability, measurement precision, and bias

Abstract

We report performance of a satellite-borne coherent Doppler wind lidar (SCDWL), which equips a planer waveguide amplifier (PWA) operating in a wavelength of 1.5 µm. The performance is defined by detection probability, measurement precision, and bias, and is characterized with a Doppler wind lidar (DWL) simulation that considers a realistic wind velocity profile, and instrumental and atmospheric parameters. Among the parameters, we carefully model those related to the PWA whose figure of merit has great impact on the performance of SCDWL and has shown rapid improvement in recent years. Moreover, we introduce three models for a backscattering coefficient (high, moderate, and low) to assess the influence from variation of atmospheric backscattering. Our simulation demonstrates that the SCDWL can work with reasonable performance for the target altitude of 6 km in the case of the high-backscattering model. The simulation also exhibits that the SCDWL can observe wind velocity at the altitude of 12 km if improved instrumental parameters or higher backscattering coefficients are considered. In addition, we reveal that non-uniform wind velocity distribution degrades the performance of the SCDWL and induces a bias between measured and real wind velocity.

Single-frequency high-energy pulses from an Er:Yb glass planar waveguide amplifier with good beam quality

“…24) 45.2 mJ pulses at 150 Hz have also been demonstrated using an improved large PWA as the main amplifier and an LMA EDFA as the preamplifier 25) for spaceborne mission. [25][26][27] A symmetrical double under-cladding structure with a 50 μm core was employed to increase the volume of the PWA's active area and to mitigate the possibility of LID. An LMA EDFA 20,23) was introduced to increase the energy of the input pulses significantly over that of a single-mode EDFA.…”

“…The FoM for CDWL reaches 105 mJ√Hz. This PWA could therefore be a good candidate for the preamplifier of a large planar waveguide amplifier 25) toward very long-distance CDWL including space-born missions 27) thanks to its good SNR and beam quality. We think that this MOPA system could be useful for the amplification of narrowlinewidth CW lasers 3) or for high f rep .…”