Abstract: The present invention applies to the art of wind sensing using lidar, and in particular to the art of detecting the speed of objects such as air-borne particles and molecules in the atmosphere in order to determine the speed and direction of the wind which is carrying them. The present invention is a beam director for directing a beam transmitted from a lidar at objects to produce backscattered light and for directing the backscattered light into a lidar receiver. The preferred embodiment of the director comprises a rotatable holographic optical element for directing the transmitted beam in various directions, and then through the same rotatable holographic optical element direct backscattered light from various directions into a receiver. In one alternative embodiment of the director, a prism is disposed in the director for directing the transmitted beam.

Abstract: The present invention is a lidar for detecting characteristics of the atmosphere, and in particular for detecting the speed and direction of objects such as air-borne particles and molecules in the atmosphere in order to determine the speed and direction of wind which is carrying them. The lidar comprises at least one lasing transmitter which transmits at least one lasing beam of radiation in the frequency range of ultraviolet light and which is swept along a path in the atmosphere so as to strike objects in the atmosphere causing backscatter radiation which is received by a receiver for determination of the Doppler shift of the objects being struck. The lidar is moved in a vehicle such as a satellite, so that wind speeds and directions at a number of altitudes and over a large area can be measured.