Reciprocity of Intensity and Duration on the Dark Adaptation Effects of Light Pulses

Abstract

This report addressed two questions. First, over what durations and intensities do light exposure of equal energy appear equally bright? Second, do light exposures of equal energy have equivalent effects on the course of dark adaptation? These questions were addressed to refine the AFRL/HEDO flashblindness model. These studies show that reciprocity between duration and intensity is the exception rather than the rule for dark adaptation. The evidence indicates that reciprocity can be expected from about 100 ms to about 10 ms. A study linking a range of short duration exposures from nanoseconds to milliseconds is lacking. During the initial stage of dark adaptation, different duration exposures have very different initial thresholds and recovery functions. From the standpoint of modeling, for exposure durations less than 10 ms, dark adaptation could be described by a single dark adaptation function. Modern lasers now make it possible to study very short duration exposures.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA408755

Entities

People

  • William Kosnik

Organizations

  • Northrop Grumman

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Flash Lamps
  • Flashblindness
  • Intensity
  • Lamps
  • Law
  • Light (Electromagnetic Radiation)
  • Light Pulses
  • Light Sources
  • Long Wavelengths
  • Nanosecond Time
  • Perception
  • Radiation
  • Recovery
  • White Light

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy