Multispectral LADAR using wavelength shaping

A LADAR, comprising:

• a transmitter, comprising:
• a laser for delivering an original beam pulse having a time duration,
• a nonlinear element for receiving the original beam pulse and outputting a multispectral incident beam pulse, and for each wavelength component of the incident beam pulse, imparting a unique wavelength-dependent variation of intensity over the time duration of the incident beam pulse, thereby creating a unique waveform shape for each component, and
• output optics for directing the incident beam pulse onto a target, the incident beam pulse thereby reflecting from the target as a scattered beam pulse,
• a receiver, comprising:
• a single-pixel sensor for receiving the scattered beam pulse and measuring and outputting an intensity of a combination of reflected wavelength components of the scattered beam pulse over time, thereby creating a scattered beam pulse envelope, and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver and which:
• receives the scattered beam pulse envelope,
• accesses factors of a respective waveform shape of each wavelength component of the incident beam pulse;
• applies the factors to fit the waveform shapes to the scattered beam pulse envelope, and
• derives a reflectivity of the target for each of the wavelength components from the factors.