Lidar waveform simulation over complex targets

Unlike discrete-return LIDAR system that measures the return times of some echoes, waveform LIDAR provides the full-waveform data by digitising multi-echoes. From the waveform data we can extract more information about the geometry and reflectance of the target surfaces by applying various algorithms to interpret waveform. There have been many researches about the laser beam's interaction with the illuminated surfaces and the diverse algorithms for waveform processing. The purpose of this paper is to suggest the method to simulate waveform coming from complex targets. First, we analysed the previous relevant works. And based on these we attempted to generate the simulated waveform over the complex surfaces. For the waveform simulation, we defined the sub-beams spread with a consistent interval within the beam's divergence coverage. Each sub-beam has its geometry (origin and direction) and the transmitted energy considering the laser beam's profile. Then, we searched the surfaces that intersect with sub-beams using ray-tracing algorithm, and computed the intersection points and the received energies. Using on the computed distance, the received energy and predefined pulse model, we generated the signals of echoes and put them together into a waveform. Finally, we completed the waveform simulation adding the signal noise. As a result of performing waveform simulation, we confirmed that the waveform data was successfully simulated by the proposed method. We believe that our method of the waveform simulation will be helpful to understand the waveform data and develop the algorithms for the waveform processing.