NOISE IN WAVEFRONT-RECONSTRUCTION IMAGING, WITH APPLICATION TO IMAGING OPTICAL RADARS.
Abstract
A fundamental limitation to the quality of wavefront-reconstruction images is noise generated by the granular structure of the recording medium. The signal-to-noise ratios that can be achieved in wavefront-reconstruction imaging are considered, with the predictions based on the checkerboard and overlapping circular-grain models of the recording medium. When the object consists of a multitude of resolvable point sources, the signal-to-noise ratio is found to be proportional to the space-bandwidth product of the recording system; when the object is a diffuse surface, the signal-to-noise ratio is found to be independent of that space-bandwidth product. It is shown that the quantum limit to signal-to-noise ratio can be approached only for a judicious choice of reference exposure and for a detector free of other classical noise sources. Finally, it is shown that wavefront-reconstruction imaging can offer significant advantages in an imaging optical radar, particularly in noisy environments. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0803908
Entities
People
- Joseph W. Goodman
Organizations
- Stanford University