Coherent Doppler lidars: Current US 9-11 micrometer systems

To gain a proper perspective of the potential of coherent Doppler lidars for global wind sensing sometime in the future, we need to examine where we are, how we got here, and the expectations for future lidar system development. First we give a brief review of lidar developments leading to our present technology. Next we survey present U.S. infrared systems with particular attention to the pulsed systems since they are the ones that will have sufficient range to operate from satellites. Finally we comment on trends and probable future developments. Only unclassified lidars are considered. The considerable DoD support for classified applications certainly enhances future developments in components and subsystems.