Kenley, UK, June 2, 2004--Optical Surfaces Ltd. has supplied the key focusing optics for a new low-cost fiber lidar system recently launched by QinetiQ Ltd. (Farnborough, UK) for making local wind speed measurements in front of wind turbines.
QinetiQ has been developing and implementing lidar systems for wind sensing for more than 20 years. The company says its new fiber lidar anemometer provides remote wind speed and direction measurements up to 200 m. Apart from many meteorological and air traffic control applications, the lidar also provides warning of turbulence and wind speed changes that will permit intelligent blade pitch control.
Optical Surfaces were selected by QinetiQ to produce a lens design that was diffraction limited. This approach allowed the designer to achieve the required performance with the fewest components, reducing the build cost of the system. The lens design created by Optical Surfaces comprised a 200-mm focal length aspheric doublet with a durable V-coat to optimise performance at 1.5 µm but also to allow the lens to be cleaned.
The aspheric doublet was supplied mounted and tested after coating by topographic and interferometric analysis. Production approved to ISO 9001-2000 all high precision optics and systems leaving the Optical Surfaces Ltd. production facility are quality certified.