Scanning altimetric lidar (SALLI): an efficient planetary altimetric mapping instrument

SALLI is a conceptual instrument design that will efficiently acquire altimetric data for a planetary body or asteroid from orbit while maintaining a minimum power demand. SALLI scans its measurements off-nadir using a novel circular scanning technique that simultaneously permits a large instrument aperture using a motion-bandwidth efficient scanning mechanism. By combining spacecraft ephemeris data with SALLI's measurement set, a complete digital elevation map of a planet or similar body can be generated in less time and using less spacecraft power than similar scanning and multi-beam instruments designed for the same purpose. SALLI was originally designed to generate measurement data to produce a topographical map of the lunar surface from a polar-orbiting host spacecraft; however, its benefits extend to a variety of other mapping missions of planets or asteroids.