Lidar Photon Return
Estimate monostatic lidar received photons from pulse energy and geometric spreading.
Description
A monostatic photon-return estimate converts pulse energy into photons and applies a two-way geometric spreading factor.
A monostatic photon-return estimate converts pulse energy into photons and applies a two-way geometric spreading factor. Target cross section supplies the scattering scale.1
Estimate monostatic lidar received photons from pulse energy and geometric spreading.
When to use Lidar Photon Return
Use this tool to estimate monostatic lidar received photons from pulse energy and geometric spreading.
Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.
How to use Lidar Photon Return and understand its results
- Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.
- Enter pulseEnergyJoules, wavelengthMeters, systemTransmission, targetCrossSectionM2, receiverAreaM2, rangeMeters using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
- Read launchedPhotons, receivedPhotons. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
- If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.
| Input field | Meaning | Value type; see rules below | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| pulseEnergyJoules | Pulse energy (J) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
| wavelengthMeters | Wavelength (m) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
| systemTransmission | System transmission | number; minimum: 0; maximum: 1 | Required |
| targetCrossSectionM2 | Target cross section (m²) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
| receiverAreaM2 | Receiver aperture area (m²) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
| rangeMeters | Target range (m) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
Enter nonnegative pulse energy/areas, positive wavelength/range and transmission 0–1. Return fractional expected photon counts.
launched=Eλ/(hc); received=launched×transmission×crossSection×receiverArea/(4πrange²)² Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.
| Output field | Meaning | Value type |
|---|---|---|
| launchedPhotons | Launched photons | number; minimum: 0 |
| receivedPhotons | Expected received photons | number; minimum: 0 |
{
"input": {
"pulseEnergyJoules": 1.9864458571489286e-25,
"wavelengthMeters": 1,
"systemTransmission": 1,
"targetCrossSectionM2": 12.566370614359172,
"receiverAreaM2": 12.566370614359172,
"rangeMeters": 1
},
"output": {
"launchedPhotons": 1,
"receivedPhotons": 1
}
}Limitations and assumptions
No detector efficiency, atmospheric profile, extended-target geometry or shot-noise realization is included.
Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use Free-Space Link Margin: Calculate a free-space optical link budget from caller-supplied gains, losses, and sensitivity. For a complementary task, use Underwater Optical Mode Comparison: Compare Beer–Lambert transmission for two underwater optical bands.
References
-
Lidar Photon Return — tool.io
Similar or alternative tools
- Free-Space Link Margin
Calculate a free-space optical link budget from caller-supplied gains, losses, and sensitivity.
- Underwater Optical Mode Comparison
Compare Beer–Lambert transmission for two underwater optical bands.