Abstract:
A wide field scanning laser obstacle awareness system (LOAS) for use on-board an aircraft (228) is provided. The LOAS serves for alerting an operator of obstacles (38,80,82,84,216) posing a risk of collision with said aircraft. The system comprising:
a light source (10,12) for generating a pulsed laser beam of light; a light detector (22); a plurality of optical elements (16) for directing said pulsed laser beam from said system with a predetermined pattern (74) scanned azimuthally over a wide field, said plurality of optical elements also for receiving reflections of said pulsed laser beam from at least one object along said predetermined pattern and directing said laser beam reflections to said light detector.
The predetermined pattern includes a variation in elevation of the directed pulsed laster beam in relation to an elevation of the aircraft. Additionally, the system has means (130) for determining substantially the azimuth position of the directed pulsed laser beam, means (114) for determining substantially the elevation of the directed pulsed laser beam, and a display apparatus (154) including an image screen for displaying a limited field of view, wherein the wide field of view of the system extends substantially beyond the field of view of the image screen. A processor means (88) is coupled to said light detector, display apparatus, azimuth position determining means and elevation determining means for determining the location of the at least one object in range, azimuth and elevation in relation to a flight path of the aircraft. The processor means drives the display apparatus to display an indication representing the at least one object in range, azimuth and elevation. The indication of the at least one object comprises an image of a bar. The bar image (218,220) is disposed vertically at the far left of the screen of the display apparatus when the object location is azimuthally outside the field of view of the display apparatus to the left, and the bar image is disposed vertically at the far right of the screen of the display apparatus when the object location is azimuthally outside the field of view of the display apparatus to the right.
Abstract:
A cloud phase detection system can include a light receiver system (101) configured to receive reflected light from a cloud, and a cloud phase module (103) operatively connected to the light receiver system and configured to calculate a fourth Stokes parameter and a multiple scattering ratio (MSR) parameter based on the reflected light. The cloud phase module can be configured to determine a phase of a cloud based on a relationship between the fourth Stokes parameter and the MSR parameter.
Abstract:
A system includes a first sensor (102) positioned to sense presence of a contrail in a first volume (104), wherein the first volume at least partially overlaps an expected volume of a contrail (106) proximate an aircraft. A second sensor (108) is positioned to sense a background reference in a second volume (110), where the second volume (110) does not overlap the expected volume of a contrail (106) proximate an aircraft. A controller (118) is operatively connected to the first and second sensors (102, 108). The controller (118) includes machine readable instructions configured to cause the controller (118) to utilize data input from both the first and second volumes (104, 110) to determine if a contrail is present from the aircraft. A system includes machine readable instructions configured to cause the controller (118) to predict persistence of contrails on an intended route through the volume of airspace and to determine an improved route and/or propulsion operation to reduce contrail formation and persistence relative to the intended route.
Abstract:
A gas detection system includes a first optical fiber bundle (102) connected to a first multi-pass cell (104) for connecting the first multi-pass cell (104) to a Raman spectrum analyzer (106). A second optical fiber bundle (108) is connected to the first multi-pass cell (104) for connecting the first multi-pass cell (104) to a second multi-pass cell (110). The second optical fiber bundle (108) can include a delay coil configured to provide temporal spacing between spectral returns from the first multi-pass cell (104) and from the second multi-pass cell (110). The first and second multi-pass cells can be biconic multipass cells with a the first optical fiber bundle (102) directed toward a first D-mirror (126), which is directed toward a T-mirror (128), which is directed toward a second D-mirror (130), which is directed toward the second optical fiber bundle (108). The D-mirrors can be on an opposite end of the first multi-pass cell (104) from the T-mirror (128) and the first and second optical fiber bundles.
Abstract:
In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, a method of detecting a fault in a plurality of optical detectors (102, 202) includes receiving a first return beam from a first optical detector interrogation beam to generate a first optical signal indicative of an atmospheric condition from a first location on board the aircraft and receiving a second return beam from a second optical detector interrogation beam to generate a second optical signal indicative of the atmospheric condition from a second location on board the aircraft. The method includes, comparing each of the first and second optical signals with a baseline value to determine whether there is a fault in at least one optical detector of the plurality of optical detectors (102, 202).
Abstract:
A method of detecting optical subsystem failures includes emitting a pulsed light beam (120) from a laser (102) through a window (122). A reflection signal (150a, 150b, 150c) indicative of a portion of the beam reflected by the window is compared to an expected signal to monitor for degradation of an optical component (104, 106, 110, 112, 114, 122).
Abstract:
A system includes an optical ice detection (OID) sub-system (102) optically coupled to light collection optics (108). A water vapor differential absorption LIDAR (WV-DIAL) sub-system (104) is optically coupled to the OlD laser source or light collection optics. The OID sub-system and the WV-DIAL sub-system share at least a portion of an optical path of the light source or through the light collection optics. The OID sub-system, the WV-DIAL sub-system, and the illumination and light collection optics can all be aboard an aircraft. A method includes using a set of illumination and light collection optics abord an aircraft to obtain data indicative of optical ice detection (OID) and water vapor differential absorption LIDAR (WV-DIAL), e.g. to detect contrail forming conditions for the aircraft and/or predict persistence of contrails from the aircraft.
Abstract:
A method includes checking an optical detector (102) with a field of view for degradation by: directing the optical detector (102) to a surface of an object in the field of view, wherein the surface is positioned at a given distance from the optical detector (102), and wherein the surface has a known reflectance; detecting an optical return from the surface with the optical detector (102) to generate a return signal; and determining whether the return signal is representative of a degraded signal. The method includes outputting an alert for maintenance action if the return signal is indicative of a degraded signal.