Asymmetrical-Gaussian-Model-Based Laser Echo Detection

To improve the detection accuracy of the overlapping echo components in a laser echo, a method based on an asymmetrical Gaussian model is proposed. In this method, an asymmetrical Gaussian model based on the convolution of a Gaussian function with an exponential decay function is proposed and a detection model of laser echo is established based on the asymmetrical Gaussian model. Experiments were carried out to verify the ranging accuracy and the capability of the proposed method to detect the overlapping echo components in a laser echo. In the experiments, a full-waveform light detection and ranging system was used to obtain the emitted laser pulse and the laser echoes. Then, the echo components in the laser echoes were detected by using both the proposed and the most widely used Gaussian-model-based methods. The experimental results show that the proposed method can determine the distances of the two close targets more accurately than the later, implying that the proposed method can detect the overlapping echo components in a laser echo more accurately than the later. An additional experiment was conducted to detect the laser echo scattered by a group of static unmanned aerial vehicles. The results show that the proposed method can well distinguish multiple objects at different distances.