Laser frequency stability estimation and velocity measurement in the atmosphere with self-heterodyne

We present a novel method of self-heterodyne for laser frequency stability estimation in the atmosphere. At the same time, it is used in the Doppler velocity measurement for moving targets in the atmosphere. The transmission range is 16.2 km (round-trip propagation with 8.1 km) in the horizontal atmospheric path, and the measuring results showed that the frequency stability of the whole laser detection system is 53.4 kHz with 20.7 kHz stand deviation. This frequency stability is the integrated influence with the whole detection system not just for the laser, but it can be considered as the estimation of the laser’s frequency stability. It is much more practical for the heterodyne detection in the atmosphere. At last, the method of self-heterodyne was used for 16.2 km round trip velocity measurement. It is showed that the velocity absolute error is less than 1.5 cm/s in the turbulent atmosphere, and the relative error is not higher than 5%.