Lidar Simulation Model: Toolbox Models

Toolbox Models

There are currently eleven graphic models for viewing LSM input and output data files in the Toolbox: Aircraft Flight Location, Aircraft Altitude, Aircraft Attitude, Laser Shot Coverage, Line-of-Sight Wind Products, Horizontal Wind Products, Global Atmospheric Library, Mesoscale Atmospheric Library, XY statistics, Histogram Statistics, Performance Diagram and there are 3 stand-alone models in the Toolbox: Power Budget Model, Horizontal Wind Model and an engineering version of the LSM.

Aircraft Location Graphics

The Aircraft Location option allows the user to load an existing aircraft flight mission file and view the flight path latitude and longitude as a function of time.

Aircraft Attitude Graphics

The Aircraft Attitude option allows the user to load an existing aircraft flight mission file and view the flight roll, pitch and yaw as a function of time.

Aircraft Altitude Graphics

The Aircraft Altitude option allows the user to load an existing aircraft flight mission file and view the flight altitude as a function of time.

Platform and Laser Shot Coverage (SCV) Graphics

The Platform and Laser shot coverage option allows the user to view the platform location track along with the laser shot locations for either satellite or aircraft missions.

Lidar Line-of-Sight Wind Products Graphics

Line-of-sight wind products, listed in the LOS table, are graphed as a function of location for either satellite or aircraft missions.

Lidar Horizontal Wind Products Graphics

Horizontal wind products, listed in the HWC table, are graphed as a function of location for either satellite or aircraft missions.

Global Atmospheric Data Set (GADS) Graphics

Global Atmospheric Data Set variables are graphed as a function of longitude and latitude.

Meso-scale Atmospheric Data Set (MADS) Graphics

Meso-scale Atmospheric Data Set variables are graphed as a function of longitude and latitude.

X/Y Statistical Graphics

The X/Y Statistical Graphics Model computes averages and standard deviations of various LSM variables and displays them on an X/Y graph.

Histogram Statistical Graphics

The Histogram Statistical Graphics Model bins various LSM variables and displays them on a histogram graph.

Simulation Performance Graphics

The Simulation Performance Graphics reads in Line-of Sight and Horizontal Wind output files from a global LSM simulation and displays the global performance of the simulation. The LOS performance diagram displays the percentage of time that the lidar system can make useful measurements in terms of sufficient aerosols, clouds and cirrus clouds in the vertical. The chart also shows the percentage of no returns due to opaque clouds. The horizontal performance diagram displays the percentage of time that the lidar system can make good horizontal wind estimates for five categories ranging from 1 m/s to 5 m/s. It also displays the percentage of insufficient number of shots to make an estimate.

Stand Alone Power Budget Model

The Power Budget Model computes a power budget for a DWL system on a satellite platform as a function of orbit time. The output variables are listed in the table below.

Stand Alone LSMe

The LSMe (Wood et al, 1993) is an engineering version of the LSM. It was originally developed on PC (Fortran 77), but has been updated to run on a workstation. The LSMe is intended for engineering trade studies. The inputs are ascii prompts and similar to those in the LSM with the exception of the atmosphere, which is discussed in the Atmospheric Technical Section (PADS).

Stand Alone Horizontal Wind Models

The Horizontal Wind Models of the LSM are set up as a stand alone model with simple ascii input prompts. The model operates on existing LSM line-of-sight and atmospheric files. It allows the user to compute horizontal winds for various spacial resolutions and shot matching techniques without having to re-run the entire LSM.