Effects of target reflectivity on the reflected laser pulse for range estimation

The development of laser ranging technology benefits remote sensing, machine vision and three-dimensional (3D) imaging. Accuracy of these systems strongly relies on the characteristics of laser and detector response. In this paper, reflected laser pulse profile is investigated and analysed based on different target reflectivity. Results show that reflected laser pulse appears to deviate from ideal Gaussian model that is commonly assumed. The reflected laser pulse demonstrates asymmetric Gaussian-shape temporal associates with a time delay. It is observed that target reflectivity that is influenced by the material types and roughness has direct impact to the sensitivity of detection and intensity variations but does not change the distribution characteristic. These show direct connection to deviation in range estimation and should be further evaluated for correction to improve the accuracy in range gated system.