This newly revised and updated edition offers a current and complete introduction to the analysis and design of Electro-Optical (EO) imaging systems. The Third Edition provides numerous updates and several new chapters including those covering Pilotage, Infrared Search and Track, and Simplified Target Acquisition Model. The principles and components of the Linear Shift-Invariant (LSI) infrared and electro-optical systems are detailed in full and help you to combine this approach with calculus and domain transformations to achieve a successful imaging system analysis. Ultimately, the steps described in this book lead to results in quantitative characterizations of performance metrics such as modulation transfer functions, minimum resolvable temperature difference, minimum resolvable contrast, and probability of object discrimination. The book includes an introduction to two-dimensional functions and mathematics which can be used to describe image transfer characteristics and imaging system components. You also learn diffraction concepts of coherent and incoherent imaging systems which show you the fundamental limits of their performance. By using the evaluation procedures contained in this desktop reference, you become capable of predicting both sensor test and field performance and quantifying the effects of component variations. The book contains over 800 time-saving equations and includes numerous analyses and designs throughout. It also includes a reference link to special website prepared by the authors that augments the book in the classroom and serves as an additional resource for practicing engineers. With its comprehensive coverage and practical approach, this is a strong resource for engineers needing a bench reference for sensor and basic scenario performance calculations. Numerous analyses and designs are given throughout the text. It is also an excellent text for upper-level students with an interest in electronic imaging systems.

This comprehensive reference details the principles and components of the Linear Shift-Invariant (LSI) infrared and electro-optical systems and shows you how to combine this approach with calculus and domain transformations to achieve a successful imaging system analysis. Ultimately, the steps described in this book lead to results in quantitative characterizations of performance metrics such as modulation transfer functions, minimum resolvable temperature difference, minimum resolvable contrast, and probability of object discrimination. The book includes an introduction to two-dimensional functions and mathematics which can be used to describe image transfer characteristics and imaging system components. You also learn diffraction concepts of coherent and incoherent imaging systems which show you the fundamental limits of their performance. By using the evaluation procedures contained in this desktop reference, you become capable of predicting both sensor test and field performance and quantifying the effects of component variations.

A Universal Programmable Interface (UPI) has been developed by Amherst Systems to provide a configurable interface for hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) testing of infrared and electro-optical (IR/EO) sensor systems. UPI development is funded under a contract to the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards AFB, with additional funding support from the OSD Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program (CTEIP) Infrared Sensor Stimulator (IRSS) enhancement project office at NAWCAD Patuxent River, Maryland. The UPI supports the interface between a scene generation system (SGS) and the unit under test (UUT) through either direct injection of the signals into the system's processing electronics or the projection of in-band scene radiance into the sensor's optical aperture. To properly stimulate the UUT, the UPI should be able to simulate various sensor effects, emulate by-passed sensor components and reformat the data for direct injection or optical projection. This paper will discuss the sensor modeling capabilities of the UPI and the supporting software and hardware. Sensor modeling capabilities include image blurring due to the sensor's modulation transfer function (MTF) and pixel effects. A sensor modeling and analysis software tool, based on FLI92(sup 1), will be discussed. A technique for modeling other sensor effects will also be presented. This technique, called pixel displacement processing, can model geometric distortion, physical sensor jitter, and other user specified effects. It can also be used to accurately perform latency compensation.

In today's world, the range of technologies with the potential to threaten the security of U.S. military forces is extremely broad. These include developments in explosive materials, sensors, control systems, robotics, satellite systems, and computing power, to name just a few. Such technologies have not only enhanced the capabilities of U.S. military forces, but also offer enhanced offensive capabilities to potential adversaries - either directly through the development of more sophisticated weapons, or more indirectly through opportunities for interrupting the function of defensive U.S. military systems. Passive and active electro-optical (EO) sensing technologies are prime examples. Laser Radar considers the potential of active EO technologies to create surprise; i.e., systems that use a source of visible or infrared light to interrogate a target in combination with sensitive detectors and processors to analyze the returned light. The addition of an interrogating light source to the system adds rich new phenomenologies that enable new capabilities to be explored. This report evaluates the fundamental, physical limits to active EO sensor technologies with potential military utility; identifies key technologies that may help overcome the impediments within a 5-10 year timeframe; considers the pros and cons of implementing each existing or emerging technology; and evaluates the potential uses of active EO sensing technologies, including 3D mapping and multi-discriminate laser radar technologies.

"This thesis involved the design and testing of a modular imaging spectrometer instrument (MISI), which can provide hyperspectral image data at a very high ground resolution. The instrument can serve as an airborne laboratory for many remote sensing applications. The optical/mechanical/electrical system was designed using a system engineering approach with emphasis on system and sub-system modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis. Extensive modeling was used to predict the system performance and to aid the design trade process. Many sensor testing methodologies were developed to evaluate the performance of this electro-optical imaging system. The system engineering approach, the modeling tools developed, and the sensor performance testing methods can also be applied to other electro-optical (EO) imaging systems design and testing. Performance evaluation experiments verify that MISI has met its image quality goals. By using finite element analysis and optical image formation theory, the performance of a high-speed scan mirror was modeled. This model was used as a design tool to aid the development of the scan mirror assembly. A model-based algorithm was developed to derive the MTF of the imaging system from its edge spread function. By using prior information about the system, the MTF can be derived from very noisy edge traces. Finally, an alternative EO imaging system design criterion the information criterion, is investigated as a overall image quality measure. The results show that line-scan imaging system can be optimized informationally by shaping the electronic filter response and detector aperture. The analytical results also show that the traditional line-scan imaging system design does not maximize information, and the informationally optimized design with a diamond-shaped aperture can provide up to 1.5 bits more information than the traditional design over a broad range of radiance fields. Computer simulation confirms that by combining image acquisition and image processing, informationally optimized design tends to maximize image fidelity."--Abstract.

This book describes the analysis and modeling involved with the design, specification and evaluation of electro-optical systems and components. The emphasis is on imaging infrared sensor systems, with analytical models that include the radiation source, atmospheric transmission, geometric and physical optics, a detector, amplifier and optical noise analysis, and detection and false alarm probabilities. Much of the analysis goes beyond what is normally available in engineering texts; the noise analysis includes a practical detector/amplifier 1/f noise model based, in part on real world results. The last chapter, "Example Calculations," includes a complete model of an infrared sensor system working in the 3 to 5 micron atmospheric transmission window. The examples, which incorporate much of the work of the previous chapters, shows how to specify the frame and integration time, detection and false alarm probabilities, array size, the angular resolution and so forth. Once these parameters are specified, using practical inputs, the various noise contributors are calculated, and important system level parameters are determined. The parameters include the signal to noise ratio, the specific detectivity (which is related to the sensitivity of the system) and dynamic range. This book is, however, more general than a sensor system book. The "Geometric Optics" chapter includes thick and thin lenses along with the other standard topics. "Electromagnetic Waves & Physical Optics" starts with Maxwell's Equations and ends with reflection at an air-metal interface. The chapter on "Angular Characterization & Related Parameters" includes aberrations, stops, vignetting, f-number, numerical aperture, diffraction and various geometric blur diameters. It also includes determination of array size, field of view, integration time, time delay and integration, etc. In "Radiometry and Photometry," various radiometric and photometric functions are defined, starting at radiant and luminous energy and ending with the Etendue Theorem. Tristimulus Colorimetry and the Photopic/Scotopic Spectral functions are also discussed. In the chapter, "Radiometry Calculation Procedures," conversions between various radiometric quantities are illustrated using a grey-body source; the background, signal, scattered and emitted flux are also considered. In "Detector and Amplifier Parameters," the electrical bandwidth, reset time, all major noise mechanisms, the Responsivity, Noise Equivalent Power, Specific Detectivity, are some of the topics discussed. In System Parameters, there are compact discussions of Fourier Transforms, the Autocorrelation Function, the Nyquist Criteria, Modulation Transfer Functions, Atmospheric Transmission, signal to noise and threshold to noise (detection/false alarm probabilities). The last chapter is the example calculation of sensor performance.