Description: This proposal identifies enhancements to the SBIR Phase II program, which is developing a compact power amplifier for use in wind measurement and other lidar systems. This Phase II Extension will advance the results from the baseline program to the production of a prototype transmitter system compatible with the NASA Wind-SP/AWP demonstrations as well as with commercial markets for airborne and ground-based lidar systems. The scope of this Extension program significantly enhances the baseline program by integrating into a single compact package a compact reliable oscillator with the amplifier developed under the baseline program. The matching Phase III program also enables build and test of other needed transmitter reference and control subsystems, providing a more robust evaluation of the overall compact prototype transmitter system. Progress to date on the baseline program has been the development of an operational compact high-power amplifier in the form of a full-performance breadboard and preliminary design of a brassboard amplifier module that uses a novel compact mount-less optics optical construction technique. The mount-less optical construction technique developed in the baseline Phase II will greatly enhance reliability and lower production cost. On a sibling program we are developing the technology for a highly-compact short-cavity-length Q-switched oscillator that will be more robust and reliable compared to much larger oscillators like that used in the NASA Wind-SP lidar transmitter. Our current results show that we have successfully advanced the amplifier, compact oscillator, and mount-less optical assembly technologies to a level that a prototype compact transmitter combining these technologies can now be designed and built. Designing, building, and testing the prototype compact transmitter is the subject of this Phase II-E and matching Phase III proposal.

Benefits: Applications include the Wind-SP/AWP program and other NASA 3D-Winds programs. It will also avail itself to various other earth environmental science programs, e.g., airborne wind and aerosol measurements, and with moderate modifications, greenhouse gas, CO2 and H2O, monitoring. Additional NASA related programs are Wildfire weather / wildfire management, Advanced Air Mobility / Piloting support, Wake vortex detection, airborne windshear detection, space-based long-range hard target measurements.

Applications include DoD programs: NOAA/DoD spaced-based weather, Air Force Precision Air-Drop Logistics, AFSOC/SOCOM Gunship Ballistics Winds, Air Force and Army Weather System Follow-on, formation aircraft wake detection, and non-cooperative Threat Precision Tracking and Identification. Commercial uses include: aviation Clear Air Turbulence, aircraft wake detection and wind farms.