Snapshot Imaging Spectropolarimeter for the Long Wavelength Infrared

Abstract

An extremely unique imaging system, that is capable of simultaneously recording both the spectral and polarimetric signatures of all the spatial locations/targets in a scene with just a single integration period of a camera, has been built for use in the long wavelength infrared, 8 to 12 microns. The system contains no moving parts and collects all of its data in a single snapshot. This snapshot capability makes it ideally suited for observing and characterizing quick events or fast moving objects without the associated scanning artifacts found in conventional imaging spectrometers and polarimeters. The rate at which you can record the temporal nature of a target's spectral and polarimetric signature is only limited by the frame rate and sensitivity of the camera detector. The imaging system is based on a combination of a Computed Tomographic Imaging Spectrometer (CTIS) and a channeled spectropolarimeter. Only three polarization elements need to be added to a CTIS system to incorporate channeled spectropolarimetery, but to understand how the entire spectropolarimeter system works we will first review the basic design and operating principles of the Computed Tomographic Imaging Spectrometer (CTIS).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA503645

Entities

People

  • Eustace L. Dereniak
  • Riley Aumiller
  • Robert Sampson
  • Robert W. Mcmillan

Organizations

  • University of Arizona

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Broadband
  • Carbon Dioxide Lasers
  • Detectors
  • Diffraction
  • Focal Planes
  • Frequency
  • Lasers
  • Light Sources
  • Long Wavelengths
  • Polarimeters
  • Polarization
  • Polarizers
  • Spectrometers
  • Spectropolarimeters
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.