The use of atmospheric dispersion in optical distance measurement |
| |
| Authors: | J C Owens |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Institutes for Environmental Research, Environmental Science Services Administration, Boulder, Colorado |
| |
| Abstract: | The development of lasers, new electro-optic light modulation methods, and improved electronic techniques have made possible
significant improvements in the range and accuracy of optical distance measurements, thus providing not only improved geodetic
tools but also useful techniques for the study of other geophysical, meteorological, and astronomical problems. One of the
main limitations, at present, to the accuracy of geodetic measurements is the uncertainty in the average propagation velocity
of the radiation due to inhomogeneity of the atmosphere. Accuracies of a few parts in ten million or even better now appear
feasible, however, through the use of the dispersion method, in which simultaneous measurements of optical path length at
two widely separated wavelengths are used to determine the average refractive index over the path and hence the true geodetic
distance. The design of a new instrument based on this method, which utilizes wavelengths of6328 ? and3681 ? and3 GHz polarization modulation of the light, is summarized. Preliminary measurements over a5.3 km path with this instrument have demonstrated a sensitivity of3×10
−9
in detecting changes in optical path length for either wavelength using1-second averaging, and a standard deviation of3×10
−7
in corrected length. The principal remaining sources of error are summarized, as is progress in other laboratories using
the dispersion method or other approaches to the problem of refractivity correction. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
