On-line detection/estimation scheme in laser Doppler anemometry

Laser anemometers have become a promising technique for estimating velocities in a flow. In this paper we study their use for on-board aircraft speed of flight estimation. More specifically, this paper addresses the problem of simultaneous detection of the arrival of aerosol particles in a laser anemometer and estimation of their velocity. A joint detection-estimation scheme is proposed. A likelihood ratio test is presented and considerations about the specificities of the problem are used to calculate the threshold. Computationally efficient algorithms for estimating the parameters of interest are derived and on-line implementation issues are addressed. Numerical examples attest for the performance of the method, on both simulated and real data recorded during a flight test.