Field of view selection for optimal airborne imaging sensor performance

Tristan M. Goss; P. Werner Barnard; Halidun Fildis; Mustafa Erbudak; Tolga Senger; Mehmet E. Alpman

doi:10.1117/12.2049911

29 May 2014 Field of view selection for optimal airborne imaging sensor performance

Tristan M. Goss, P. Werner Barnard, Halidun Fildis, Mustafa Erbudak, Tolga Senger, Mehmet E. Alpman

Proceedings Volume 9071, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XXV; 907103 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2049911
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2014, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

The choice of the Field of View (FOV) of imaging sensors used in airborne targeting applications has major impact on the overall performance of the system. Conducting a market survey from published data on sensors used in stabilized airborne targeting systems shows a trend of ever narrowing FOVs housed in smaller and lighter volumes. This approach promotes the ever increasing geometric resolution provided by narrower FOVs, while it seemingly ignores the influences the FOV selection has on the sensor’s sensitivity, the effects of diffraction, the influences of sight line jitter and collectively the overall system performance. This paper presents a trade-off methodology to select the optimal FOV for an imaging sensor that is limited in aperture diameter by mechanical constraints (such as space/volume available and window size) by balancing the influences FOV has on sensitivity and resolution and thereby optimizing the system’s performance. The methodology may be applied to staring array based imaging sensors across all wavebands from visible/day cameras through to long wave infrared thermal imagers. Some examples of sensor analysis applying the trade-off methodology are given that highlights the performance advantages that can be gained by maximizing the aperture diameters and choosing the optimal FOV for an imaging sensor used in airborne targeting applications.

Citation Download Citation

Tristan M. Goss, P. Werner Barnard, Halidun Fildis, Mustafa Erbudak, Tolga Senger, and Mehmet E. Alpman "Field of view selection for optimal airborne imaging sensor performance", Proc. SPIE 9071, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XXV, 907103 (29 May 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2049911

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