Analyzing the efficiency of a practical heterodyne lidar in the turbulent atmosphere: telescope parameters.

The simulation of beam propagation permits examination of the signal degradation in a heterodyne receiver caused by refractive turbulence under general atmospheric conditions and at arbitrary transmitter and receiver configurations. At shorter wavelengths, an understanding of turbulence effects is essential for deciding the optimal telescope parameters, i.e., focal length and aperture diameter, of a practical heterodyne lidar.