A Model for the Simulation of a Pulsed Laser Line Scan System

Several underwater electro-optical (EO) imaging systems are currently available for both civilian and military use. One type of EO sensor, the laser line scan (LLS) sensor, uses a narrow collimated beam to scan the ocean floor, sweeping out lines as the sensor platform moves through the water. Current LLS systems use a continuous laser beam, and mitigate the laser volume backscatter by offsetting the laser source from the collector. An LLS system that uses a pulsed laser beam is currently under development. The pulsed system can also reduce the collection of laser backscatter by time gating the collector aperture so as to block light during specified time intervals. We present a detailed numerical model for the return signal for the pulsed LLS system and make some rudimentary comparisons between the projected performance for the pulsed and continuous wave variants of the LLS system. We find that the pulsed LLS system has the potential to significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio relative to the continuous LLS system