The influence of rain on small aperture LiDAR sensors

Publikationstyp
Conference Paper
Date Issued
2016-04-27
Sprache
English
Author(s)
Fersch, Thomas  
Buhmann, Alexander  
Kölpin, Alexander  orcid-logo
Weigel, Robert  
TORE-URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11420/5631
Start Page
84
End Page
87
Article Number
7461562
Citation
German Microwave Conference, GeMiC: 7461562 (2016-04-27)
Contribution to Conference
German Microwave Conference, GeMiC 2016  
Publisher DOI
10.1109/GEMIC.2016.7461562
The influence of rain on pulsed LiDAR systems with a miniaturized aperture and small laser beam cross sections was investigated based on two situations deemed critical to the system's performance. Firstly, discrete rain drops appearing very close to the laser aperture could lead to a complete deflection of the laser beam when the drop and the beam overlap. However, our semi-probabilistic, semi-Analytical model indicates that the rate of deflected scan events is negligible. Secondly, the emitter surface could be covered with drops of various size degrading the performance. We found an optimum ratio between drop diameter and laser beam diameter, favoring larger laser beams. In conclusion, the effect was found to be non critical.