Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: receiver model and performance analysis

Abshire, James B.; Sun, Xiaoli; Afzal, Robert S.

doi:10.1364/ao.39.002449

Cited by 95 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This section contains information from Zuber et al (1992) and Abshire et al (2000). We advise the reader to refer to these two sources for more detail.…”

Section: Instrument Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cloud Reflection Observations: Results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

Ivanov

Muhleman

2001

Icarus

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“…This section contains information from Zuber et al (1992) and Abshire et al (2000). We advise the reader to refer to these two sources for more detail.…”

Section: Instrument Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cloud Reflection Observations: Results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

Ivanov

Muhleman

2001

Icarus

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“…It shall be noted that this performances are for a lidar with receiver diameter of 50cm, i.e. the same as in the already operational altimeter MOLA [16] and much less than the one assumed for Earth probing ( Table 1).…”

Section: Numerical Results: Probig Mars and Mercury Surfacementioning

confidence: 96%

“…The determination of the range (altitude) to the surface from the cross-correlated PRN cw lidar response may follow the "threshold approach", similar as it is in the pulse laser altimeters [16]. In evaluation of the detection performances of the planetary altimeter in such approach it is of importance to calculate also the cumulative probability for surface detection.…”

Section: Numerical Results: Probing Of Earth Surfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Surface detection performance evaluation of pseudo-random noise continuous wave laser radar

Mitev

Matthey

Carmo

2017

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2006

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A number of space missions (including in the ESA Exploration Programme) foreseen a use of laser radar sensor (or lidar) for determination of range between spacecrafts or between spacecraft and ground surface (altimetry). Such sensors need to be compact, robust and power efficient, at the same time with high detection performance. These requirements can be achieved with a Pseudo-Random Noise continuous wave lidar (PRN cw lidar). Previous studies have pointed to the advantages of this lidar with respect to space missions, but they also identified its limitations in high optical background.The progress of the lasers and the detectors in the near IR spectral range requires a re-evaluation of the PRN cw lidar potential. Here we address the performances of this lidar for surface detection (altimetry) in planetary missions. The evaluation is based on the following system configuration: (i) A cw fiber amplifier as lidar transmitter. The seeding laser exhibits a single-frequency spectral line, with subsequent amplitude modulation. The fiber amplifier allows high output power level, keeping the spectral characteristics and the modulation of the seeding light input. (ii) An avalanche photodiode in photon counting detection; (iii) Measurement scenarios representative for Earth, Mercury and Mars.

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“…MLA will measure the topography of the Mercury northern hemisphere via laser pulse time-of-flight data and spacecraft orbit position data in an approach similar to the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) (Abshire, Sun, and Afzal, 2000) . MLA is designed to perform range timing measurements up to 1800 km from the planet's surface.…”

Section: Mla Instrument Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mercury Laser Altimeter Instrument for the MESSENGER Mission

et al. 2007

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The Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) is one of the payload science instruments on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission, which launched on 3 August 2004. The altimeter will measure the round trip time-of-flight of transmitted laser pulses reflected from the surface of the planet that, in combination with the spacecraft orbit position and pointing data, gives a high-precision measurement of surface topography referenced to Mercury's center of mass. The altimeter measurements will be used to determine the planet's forced librations by tracking the motion of large-scale topographic features as a function of time. MLA's laser pulse energy monitor and the echo pulse energy estimate will provide an active measurement of the surface reflectivity at 1064 nm. This paper describes the instrument design, prelaunch testing, calibration, and results of post-launch testing.

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Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: receiver model and performance analysis

Cited by 95 publications

References 12 publications

Cloud Reflection Observations: Results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

Cloud Reflection Observations: Results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

Surface detection performance evaluation of pseudo-random noise continuous wave laser radar

The Mercury Laser Altimeter Instrument for the MESSENGER Mission

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