Laser brightness verification

Limits on the brightness of ground?based lasers appear to be straightforward to define and, at high power and with cooperation, to monitor for verification of possible arms?control treaties. We suggest using potential brightness defined as (beam power)? (beam diameter)2/p ?(wavelength)2 as the appropriate parameter to limit. Actual brightness is quite dependent on atmospheric conditions. The complexities of on?site monitoring and space?based lasers are discussed.

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