"The book is in part an introduction to Ladar or Lidar, providing the technical building blocks to understand the technology. It provides the mathematical background for traditional direct-detection architecture, describing in more detail Photon-Counting detection usually achieved with Geiger Mode APD technology. The book then dives into details with the Coherent Detection architecture, describing various imaging techniques such as Synthetic Aperture Lidar, and Vibration Sensing Lidar. This book is a reference to readers who want to become more acquainted with Lidar technology, and can also be used as a textbook on the subject"--

This text is designed to introduce engineers-in-training to the basic concepts and operation of 3D imaging LADAR systems. The book covers laser range equations; sources of noise in LADAR signals; LADAR waveforms; the effects of wavefront propagation on LADAR beams through optical systems and atmospheric turbulence; algorithms for detecting, ranging, and tracking targets; and comprehensive system simulation. Computer code for accomplishing the many examples appearing throughout the text is provided. Exercises appear at the end of each chapter, allowing students to apply concepts studied throughout the text to fundamental problems encountered by LADAR engineers. Also included is a CD-ROM with the MATLAB code from the examples.

In today's world, the range of technologies with the potential to threaten the security of U.S. military forces is extremely broad. These include developments in explosive materials, sensors, control systems, robotics, satellite systems, and computing power, to name just a few. Such technologies have not only enhanced the capabilities of U.S. military forces, but also offer enhanced offensive capabilities to potential adversaries - either directly through the development of more sophisticated weapons, or more indirectly through opportunities for interrupting the function of defensive U.S. military systems. Passive and active electro-optical (EO) sensing technologies are prime examples. Laser Radar considers the potential of active EO technologies to create surprise; i.e., systems that use a source of visible or infrared light to interrogate a target in combination with sensitive detectors and processors to analyze the returned light. The addition of an interrogating light source to the system adds rich new phenomenologies that enable new capabilities to be explored. This report evaluates the fundamental, physical limits to active EO sensor technologies with potential military utility; identifies key technologies that may help overcome the impediments within a 5-10 year timeframe; considers the pros and cons of implementing each existing or emerging technology; and evaluates the potential uses of active EO sensing technologies, including 3D mapping and multi-discriminate laser radar technologies.

"Details the latest image processing algorithms and imaging systems for image recognition with diverse applications to the military; the transportation, aerospace, information security, and biomedical industries; radar systems; and image tracking systems."

The probability of detection of optically rough targets by pulsed LADAR systems that employ direct detection is considered here. It is assumed that the LADAR operates under conditions of both unintentional pointing off-set bias (i.e., bore-sight error) and jitter. Under these conditions, the probability of detection of targets in both the near and far field of the collecting aperture (i.e., for resolved, partially resolved, and unresolved targets) and for both large and small photoelectron counts is derived, and, in many cases of practical interest, accurate, elementary analytic approximations that are useful for parametric system studies are obtained. As such, the approximate engineering expressions derived here will be useful, for example, to those performing engineering modeling of space-based LADAR systems. A number of appendices are included to serve as technical references, where some key results employed in the main body of the report are derived. In particular, an interesting new mathematical result involving the complementary incomplete gamma function and an analytic expression for the probability distribution function of a signal photocount obeying Bose-Einstein statistics (such as that arising from unresolved targets) immersed in Poisson noise are derived. Optical radar, Detection statistics, LADAR, Statistical optics, Pointing errors.

Direct-detection laser radars can measure the range and the intensity returns from a target, with or without clutter, for each part of the target resolved in angle by the optical system. Because the ladar's angular resolution is in micro-radians, there are generally at least a few angular pixels "on target." In addition, for narrow pulse ladar systems, there may be ten or so sequential intensity measurements in range per pixel as the laser pulse propagates down the target's surface. The output image is, therefore, potentially a truce dimensional "cube" of intensity measurements and quantized in the range axis by the range-bin size or "voxel." This is known as "range resolved angle-angle-intensity" ladar, and one such system is being built by BMDO under the DITP effort.

This book describes for readers various technical outcomes from the EU-project IoSense. The authors discuss sensor integration, including LEDs, dust sensors, LIDAR for automotive driving and 8 more, demonstrating their use in simulations for the design and fabrication of sensor systems. Readers will benefit from the coverage of topics such as sensor technologies for both discrete and integrated innovative sensor devices, suitable for high volume production, electrical, mechanical, security and software resources for integration of sensor system components into IoT systems and IoT-enabling systems, and IoT sensor system reliability. Describes from component to system level simulation, how to use the available simulation techniques for reaching a proper design with good performance; Explains how to use simulation techniques such as Finite Elements, Multi-body, Dynamic, stochastics and many more in the virtual design of sensor systems; Demonstrates the integration of several sensor solutions (thermal, dust, occupancy, distance, awareness and more) into large-scale system solutions in several industrial domains (Lighting, automotive, transport and more); Includes state-of-the-art simulation techniques, both multi-scale and multi-physics, for use in the electronic industry.