between the incident and scattered light, and is thus proportional to the component of particle velocity which lies in the plane of two laser beams. If the sensor is aligned to the flow such that the fringes are perpendicular to the flow direction, the electrical signal from the photodetector will then be proportional to the full particle velocity. By combining three devices (e.g., He-Ne, Argon ion, and laser diode) with different wavelengths, all three flow velocity components can be simultaneously measured. Another form of laser Doppler velocimetry, particularly used in early device developments, has a completely different approach akin to an interferometer. The sensor also splits the laser beam into two parts; one (the measurement beam) is focused into the flow and the second (the reference beam) passes outside the flow. A receiving optics provides a path that intersects the measurement beam, forming a small volume. Particles passing through this volume will scatter light from the measurement beam with a Doppler shift; a portion of this light is collected by the receiving optics and transferred to the photodetector. The reference beam is also sent to the photodetector where optical heterodyne detection produces an electrical signal proportional to the Doppler shift, by which the particle velocity component perpendicular to the plane of the beams can be determined. The signal detection scheme of the instrument is using the principle of optical heterodyne detection. This principle is similar to other laser Doppler-based instruments such as laser Doppler vibrometer, or laser surface velocimeter. It is possible to apply digital techniques to the signal to obtain the velocity as a measured fraction of the speed-of-light, and therefore in one sense Laser Doppler velocimetry is a particularly fundamental measurement traceable to the S.I. system of measurement. Applications In the decades since the laser Doppler velocimetry was first introduced, there has been a wide variety of laser Doppler sensors developed and applied. Flow research Laser Doppler velocimetry is often chosen over other forms of flow measurement because the equipment can be outside of the flow being measured and therefore has no effect on the flow. Some typical applications include the following: Wind tunnel velocity experiments for testing aerodynamics of aircraft, missiles, cars, trucks, trains, and buildings and other structures Velocity measurements in water flows (research in general hydrodynamics, ship hull design, rotating machinery, pipe flows, channel flow, etc.) Fuel injection and spray research where there is a