Data Acquisition for Laser Guidance System Simulation.

In this report we assess the capabilities and limitations of existing systems for measuring the beam profile of a laser designator. The assessment is made largely on the basis of information gathered by on-site inspection of operational systems at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico and Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Culver City, California. Visits were also made to the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, California, Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, Alabama and USAMIRADCOM, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, in order to discuss laser spot mapping with personnel at these installations. In addition to evaluating the existing hardware, we have investigated the requirements for future laser profile measurement systems. Estimates of the required dynamic range are given. Finally, some effort has been devoted to assessing the capability of existing propagation theory in predicting the statistics of the instantaneous beam cross-section. Author