Image blurring due to turbulent wakes for airborne systems: simulation and modeling

Yakov Diskin; David Goorskey; Matthew Whiteley; Richard Drye; Nicholas De Lucca; Stanislav Gordeyev; Eric Jumper

doi:10.1117/12.2275648

30 August 2017 Image blurring due to turbulent wakes for airborne systems: simulation and modeling

Yakov Diskin, David Goorskey, Matthew Whiteley, Richard Drye, Nicholas De Lucca, Stanislav Gordeyev, Eric Jumper

Proceedings Volume 10408, Laser Communication and Propagation through the Atmosphere and Oceans VI; 104080N (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2275648
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2017, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We present our findings from a modeling and simulation effort in which we analyzed the imaging performance of a turreted laser beam director/telescope on a transonic aircraft platform. We used real wavefront sensor (WFS) data collected by the Airborne Aero-Optics Laboratory-Transonic (AAOL-T) test platform at Mach 0.8. Using these WFS data, we quantified the imaging point spread function (PSF) for a variety of line-of-sight (LOS) angles. The LOS angle values sweep from forward-looking angles, through the shock wave to backward-looking angles, imaging through the turbulent wake. Our simulation results show Strehl ratios from 4% to 50% with substantial scattering of energy out to many times larger than the diffraction-limited core. For each LOS angle, we analyzed the imaging modulation transfer function (MTF) which showed a rapid reduction of contrast for low-to-mid range spatial frequencies. We reaffirm that practical limits to usable spatial frequencies require higher imaging signal to noise ratio in the presence of aero-optical disturbances at high Mach number. The presented MTF analysis speaks to the degradation of image-contrast-based tracking algorithms that rely on an illuminator laser propagating through aero-optical aberrations. In conclusion, we discuss the AAOL-T imaging flight test campaigns and the anticipated imaging performance of AAOL-T turret.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Yakov Diskin, David Goorskey, Matthew Whiteley, Richard Drye, Nicholas De Lucca, Stanislav Gordeyev, and Eric Jumper "Image blurring due to turbulent wakes for airborne systems: simulation and modeling", Proc. SPIE 10408, Laser Communication and Propagation through the Atmosphere and Oceans VI, 104080N (30 August 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2275648

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