Our current research adds another layer of enhancement over Pulsed Laser Line Scanning (PLLS) by partially rejecting the source-to-target forward scattering effects. The technique uses the same source as PLLS system, but the receiver consists of a linear array of n time-resolved bucket collectors in the cross-axis direction. The spacing between receive elements is large enough to cause measurable time-of-flight differences in the near-field. By using a near-field beamforming algorithm, which sums together the time-resolved receiver waveforms with the appropriate delays based on the geometry, the contrast ratio is improved and some of the multiple forward scattering induced blur/glow/ghosting effects are rejected as well as improving the time-of-flight based 3D image reconstruction. This paper utilizes modeling to investigate the feasibility of this method.

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Walter B. Britton, Fraser R. Dalgleish, and Hanqi Zhuang, "Beamforming receiver for underwater pulsed laser line scanning," Proc. SPIE 10631, Ocean Sensing and Monitoring X, 106310L (Presented at SPIE Defense + Security: April 18, 2018; Published: 25 May 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2310055.