A Laboratory Investigation of Turbulence Detection Using a Laser

Calculations and experiments have been undertaken to determine the property of the backscattered laser-return signal that undergoes the most significant change in a turbulent region as compared with a nonturbulent region. If the turbulent region is composed mainly of air molecules, the detection of a shift in the frequency property appears to be the most promising. Therefore at this time the main effort at the Ames Research Center is focused on the implementation and laboratory evaluation of a clear-air turbulence detector utilizing a laser source and observing the frequency change.