Real Time Atmospheric Monitor
Abstract
The most widely accepted measure of the performance of any imaging optical system is the optical transfer function (OTF). The OTF is made up of two functions namely, the modulation transfer function (MTF) and the phase transfer function (PTF), which are simply defined as the modulation and phase of the image of an sinusoidal input object, measured as a function of the spatial frequency of the sinusoid. Ground-based telescopes provide images that are deteriorated by atmospheric turbulence, and the OTF used to describe the performance of the total imaging system must take into account the effects of the atmosphere. The Real Time Atmospheric Measurement (RTAM) system was designed to measure the telescope/atmosphere OTF for the 1.6-meter telescope at the ARPA Maui Optical Station (AMOS) atop Haleakala volcano on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Specifically the instrument was designed to provide multiple short- exposure (.001 second) samples of the system OTF using light from bright stars for making the measurement. This report describes the RTAM instrument developed by Itek Corporation, together with test results.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA054142
Entities
People
- Alan J. Macgovern