Abstract

The most commonly used lidar (light detection and ranging) systems are not eye-safe and pose potential risk of eye damage especially in the case of downward pointing airborne lidar systems. A short wavelength lidar capable of operating in nominally eye-safe spectral regions (1.54 μm) is needed for cloud and aerosol studies [2, 3]. A Raman-shifted Nd:YAG laser capable of generating 1.54 μm radiation can be developed to qualify as an eye-safe lidar [4,5,6]. The eye-safety criterion set by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) for a single pulse exposure is: 1 J/cm² at 1.54 μm, which is specified to be about 400,000 times safer, for eye exposure, than Nd:YAG laser radiation at 1.06 μm [4].

© 1990 Optical Society of America