Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of a Microwave-Modulated LIDAR System

This paper concerns the merging of the lightwave and miscrowave technologies for improvements in sensitivity and resolution of aerial light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) measurements. By the transposing of a microwave signal on a blue-green optical carrier, a hybrid LIDAR-RADAR detection scheme was created. Simulations and laboratory measurements showed a dramatic 17 dB optical (34 dB electrical) suppression of the backscatter clutter and corresponding improvement in contrast for shallow underwater targets.