Advanced techniques for target discrimination using laser speckle

II A new high-resolution imaging technique known as wavelength decorrelation is demonstrated in the laboratory for measuring target shape and estimating surface-scattering properties. In these demonstrations, the target is flood illuminated with a frequency-scanning Ti:sapphire ring laser. As the laser frequency changes, the speckle pattern in the backscattered light appears to boil; the time-varying intensity at a point in this pattern carries information about the target's range-resolved laser radar cross section U(z). A range resolution of better than 1 mm is demonstrated. A theoretical analysis of wavelength decorre1ation is also presented, including the mathematical framework for predicting wavelength-decorrelation signatures. An additional technique known as speckle tracking is described for measuring a target's angular dynamics.

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