Advanced Portable Differential Image Motion Monitor

Abstract

Atmospheric turbulence severely limits the resolution attainable with most astronomical imaging systems, yet quantitative characterization of turbulence conditions remains a difficult and expensive proposition. The goal of this project was to demonstrate that a dual aperture instrument could be constructed, primarily from commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, to serve as an inexpensive, easy to operate, seeing monitor. To this end, Mechanical & Composite Engineering (MCE) designed, integrated, tested, and delivered a dual aperture Differential Image Motion Measurement (DIMM) system. The system features high frame rate CCD cameras, a portable computer controlled tracking mount, and easy to use software running on a personal computer under the Windows NT operating system. Among the unique features of this system are a variable spacing between the sub-apertures, and independent frame rate and exposure time control of the CCD cameras. Standard output includes the transverse coherence length and the variance of the angle of arrival for each sub-aperture.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA379276

Entities

People

  • Charles Richey

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Angle Of Arrival
  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Composite Materials
  • Computers
  • Data Acquisition
  • Engineering
  • Image Processing
  • Instruction Manuals
  • Measurement
  • Mechanics
  • Operating Systems
  • Personal Computers
  • Standards
  • System Software
  • Turbulence

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Software Engineering
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Space Objects