Higher-order polarization procedures for remote sensing and 3D imaging
Abstract
As technological capabilities in sensor development are rapidly increasing, novel strategies are being considered to improve the performance and functionality of optical sensing and imaging systems. Major goals involve maximizing the information content and alleviating limitations due to the degradation of electromagnetic fields. In passive sensing, the main strategy involves using electromagnetic field properties that are less affected by various perturbation mechanisms, which entails access to a variety of radiation bands. However, severe complications arise because the main distorting mechanisms, scattering and absorption, cannot be separated in usual environments and may have different strengths across the electromagnetic spectrum.Further flexibility is afforded in active procedures where, in principle, one can control most of the properties of the electromagnetic field illuminating a target. This comes atthe expense of more complicated systems that may also disclose the observer. Moreover, field degradation happens in both directions, towards and back from the target and, most importantly, it alters the field properties in different ways. Thus, active sensing, which relies on deterministic control of illumination and simple intensity detection, still has limited efficacy in adverse environments. To improve the practice of sensing and imaging, we propose to exploit untapped degrees of freedom of scattered and/or intrinsically emitted fields, including polarization, spectrum, and spatial coherence. Combining measurements of higher-order field propertieswith physics-driven mathematical modeling and efficient computational algorithms of inverse problems will enable prompt and judicious decisions for operational tasks involving remote targets. This is the overarching aim of this proposal.The proposal addresses thefundamental problem of information retrieval using stochastic properties of electromagnetic fields. We propose to develop conceptually new active systems that use coherent beam engineering to control statistical properties of illumination, which, in practical circumstances, are robust against environmental perturbations. This renders considerable flexibility not only for illumination but alsofor detection and signal processing. Our proposal addresses all these aspects of a sensing system. The research will establish the feasibility and will evaluate the robustness of possible alternatives for detecting and processing polarimetric data and for efficient assessment of information content in different scenarios of target discrimination. These principles will be exploited to design anew class of sensing and imaging systems with unique operational characteristics for Navy specific applications.Approved for PublicRelease.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 08, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412487
Entities
People
- Aristide Dogariu
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Central Florida Board of Trustees