Influence of atmospheric turbulence on tracking performance of LIDAR and validation of vacuum experiment

Abstract

A spaceborne LIDAR with laser precision tracking technology was used for a Rendezvous and Docking Mission. In the ground experiment, the laser echo energy attenuation, beam jitter, spot drift, intensity fluctuation, beam expansion and other changes are caused by the effects of atmospheric attenuation and atmospheric turbulence on the light path, and the tracking performance of the lidar has significantly deteriorated compared with the actual application in vacuum environment. In this paper, the atmospheric turbulence effect noise model of laser band of the LIDAR is calculated and simulated. Experiments are carried out in atmospheric turbulence and vacuum environment respectively, and the tracking measurement performance of lidar in non-vacuum with atmospheric turbulence and vacuum environment was verified. The variation of tracking performance of lidar in space and ground is analyzed and some results are also discussed in this paper.