The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 03, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 22, 1994
Lawrence L Ames, San Jose, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A system and method for determining wind velocity. The LIDAR 104 transmits a plurality of laser pulses. The paths of the laser pulses surround a center line (206) that does not coincide with a vertical axis (706) intersecting the LIDAR (104), i.e., an off-vertical scan. Each laser pulse reflects off particles in the air at a given location. This location is the intersection of the path of each LIDAR pulse and the target altitude. The target altitude is the altitude at which the wind velocity is to be determined. The reflected pulses are received by the LIDAR (104). The invention groups the received LIDAR pulses according to the altitude at which they were reflected, as opposed to the distance each pulse travels. Grouping the received pulses in this manner enables the invention to perform an off-vertical scan that accurately determines the wind velocity at a target altitude. The received laser pulses have an associated Doppler shift. The Doppler shift is a measure of the relative radial wind velocity at the target location. The invention measures the Doppler shift from a plurality of received laser pulses reflected from the target altitude. These measurements enable the invention to determine the wind velocity at the target location.