Simulation of coherent Doppler lidar performance for space-based platforms

The performance of coherent Doppler lidar velocity estimates for a space-based platform are produced using computer simulations of raw data and statistical descriptions of the resulting velocity estimates. The random spatial variability of the wind field and aerosol backscatter is included as well as the improvement using coprocessing of multiple shots for a fixed lidar beam geometry. Performance of velocity estimates is defined as the rms error of the good radial velocity estimates and the fraction of bad estimates in low signal conditions. For a wide range of conditions, performance is effectively described by a few basic parameters that are a function of the atmospheric conditions and the lidar design. The threshold signal level for acceptable velocity measurements scales as N-1/2, where N is the number of coprocessed lidar shots. For a 100-km satellite track and N = 100 lidar shots, the rms error is typically less than 0.4 m s(-1) for high signal levels.