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A tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy device was developed to study atmospheric propagation for emerging high-energy laser weapons. The cesium diode-pumped alkali laser operates near 895 nm in the vicinity of several water-vapor absorption lines. Temperature, pressure, and water vapor concentration were determined for 150 m and 1 km open paths with statistical errors of ∼0.2%. Comparison with meteorological instruments yields agreement for the 1 km path to within 0.6% for temperature, 3.7% for pressure, and 2.4% for concentration.

We investigate the use of a semiconductor optical amplifier operated in the saturation regime as a phase modulator for long range laser radar applications. The nature of the phase and amplitude modulation resulting from a high peak power Gaussian pulse, and the impact this has on the ideal pulse response of a laser radar system, is explored. We also present results of a proof-of-concept laboratory demonstration using phase-modulated pulses to interrogate a stationary target.

Chromotomosynthetic imaging (CTI) is a method of convolving spatial and spectral information that can be reconstructed into a hyperspectral image cube using the same transforms employed in medical tomosynthesis. A direct vision prism instrument operating in the visible (400-725 nm) with 0.6 mrad instantaneous field of view (IFOV) and 0.6-10 nm spectral resolution has been constructed and characterized. Reconstruction of hyperspectral data cubes requires an estimation of the instrument component properties that define the forward transform. We analyze the systematic instrumental error in collected projection data resulting from prism spectral dispersion, prism alignment, detector array position, and prism rotation angle. The shifting and broadening of both the spectral lineshape function and the spatial point spread function in the reconstructed hyperspectral imagery is compared with experimental results for monochromatic point sources. The shorter wavelength (λ<500 nm) region where the prism has the highest spectral dispersion suffers mostly from degradation of spectral resolution in the presence of systematic error, while longer wavelengths (λ>600 nm) suffer mostly from a shift of the spectral peaks. The quality of the reconstructed hyperspectral imagery is most sensitive to the misalignment of the prism rotation mount. With less than 1° total angular error in the two axes of freedom, spectral resolution was degraded by as much as a factor of 2 in the blue spectral region. For larger errors than this, spectral peaks begin to split into bimodal distributions, and spatial point response functions are reconstructed in rings with radii proportional to wavelength and spatial resolution.

Brownout, the loss of visibility caused by dust resultant of helicopter downwash, is a factor in the large majority of military helicopter accidents. As terahertz radiation readily propagates through the associated dust aerosols and is attenuated by atmospheric water vapor within short distances, it can provide low-profile imaging that improves effective pilot visibility. In order to model this application of terahertz imaging, it is necessary to determine the optical properties of obscurants at these frequencies. We present here a method of empirical calculation and experimental measurement of the complex refractive index of the obscuring aerosols. Results derived from terahertz time-domain spectral measurements are incorporated into the AFIT CDE Laser Environmental Effects Definition and Reference (LEEDR) software.

The propagation of a free-space optical communications signal through atmospheric turbulence experiences random fluctuations in intensity, including signal fades, which negatively impact the performance of the communications link. The gamma-gamma probability density function is commonly used to model the scintillation of a single beam. One proposed method to reduce the occurrence of scintillation-induced fades at the receiver plane involves the use of multiple beams propagating through independent paths, resulting in a sum of independent gamma-gamma random variables. Recently an analytical model for the probability distribution of irradiance from the sum of multiple independent beams was developed. Because truly independent beams are practically impossible to create, we present here a more general but approximate model for the distribution of beams traveling through partially correlated paths. This model compares favorably with wave-optics simulations and highlights the reduced scintillation as the number of transmitted beams is increased. Additionally, a pulse-position modulation scheme is used to reduce the impact of signal fades when they occur. Analytical and simulated results showed significantly improved performance when compared to fixed threshold on/off keying., (© 2011 Optical Society of America)

The majority of hyperspectral data exploitation algorithms are developed using statistical models for the data that include sensor noise. Hyperspectral data collected using charge-coupled devices or other photon detectors have sensor noise that is directly dependent on the amplitude of the signal collected. However, this signal dependence is often ignored. Additionally, the statistics of the noise can vary spatially and spectrally as a result of camera characteristics and the calibration process applied to the data. Here, we examine the expected noise characteristics of both raw and calibrated visible/near-infrared hyperspectral data and provide a method for estimating the noise statistics using calibration data or directly from the imagery if calibration data is unavailable., (© 2011 Optical Society of America)

Rare-earth orthovanadates are being used as substitutes for traditional solid-state laser hosts, such as YAG. While the most common of these is yttrium orthovanadate, other rare-earth vanadates, such as lutetium vanadate and gadolinium vanadate, are being used for their special properties in certain applications. We report new measurements of the refractive indices and thermo-optic coefficients of these materials, which will aid in the design of laser cavities and other nonlinear optical elements.

We report the use of periodic, pseudonoise waveforms in a multifunction coherent ladar system. We exploit the Doppler sensitivity of these waveforms, as well as agile processing, to enable diverse ladar functions, including high range resolution imaging, macro-Doppler imaging, synthetic aperture ladar, and range-resolved micro-Doppler imaging. We present analytic expressions and simulations demonstrating the utility of pseudonoise waveforms for each of the ladar modes. We also discuss a laboratory pseudonoise ladar system that was developed to demonstrate range compression and range-resolved micro-Doppler imaging, as well as the phase recovery common to each of the coherent modes.

In article I of this series, calculations and graphs of the depolarization ratio, D(Theta,lambda)=1-/, for light scattered from an ensemble of single-aerosolized Bacillus spores using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) (sometimes also called the coupled dipole approximation) were presented. The Sij in these papers denote the appropriate Mueller matrix elements. We compare graphs for different size parameters for both D(Theta,lambda) and the ratio R34(Theta,lambda)=/. The ratio R34(Theta,lambda) was shown previously to be sensitive to diameters of rod-shaped and spherical bacteria suspended in liquids. The present paper isolates the effect of length changes and shows that R34(Theta,lambda) is not very sensitive to these changes, but D(Theta,lambda) is sensitive to length changes when the aspect ratio becomes small enough. In the present article, we extend our analysis to vegetative bacteria which, because of their high percentage of water, generally have a substantially lower index of refraction than spores. The parameters used for the calculations were chosen to simulate values previously measured for log-phase Escherichia coli. Each individual E. coli bacterium appears microscopically approximately like a right-circular cylinder, capped smoothly at each end by a hemisphere of the same diameter. With the present model we focus particular attention on determining the effect, if any, of length changes on the graphs of D(Theta,lambda) and R34(Theta,lambda). We study what happens to these two functions when the diameters of the bacteria remain constant and their basic shape remains that of a capped cylinder, but with total length changed by reducing the length of the cylindrical part of each cell. This approach also allows a test of the model, since the limiting case as the length of the cylindrical part approaches zero is exactly a sphere, which is known to give a value identically equal to zero for D(Theta,lambda) but not for R34(Theta,lambda).

A variant of laser saturation spectroscopy has been applied to the determination of spatially resolved temperature in low-pressure supersonic flows. By copropagating a pump and probe beam with a small crossing angle, the full Doppler profile is retained, but the signal is limited to the volume where both beams are overlapped. The technique was demonstrated on several rovibrational lines of the I2X1Sigma(0g+)-->B3Pi(0u+) transition in a Mach 2 Laval nozzle. A temperature of 146 K+/-1.5 K was extracted from measurements of the I2P(46) 17-1 spectral line with a spatial resolution of 2.4 mm3. Application of the technique to the turbulent gain medium of a chemical oxygen-iodine laser is discussed.

As a finite cross-section laser beam propagates through the atmosphere, the beam spreads due to both diffraction and atmospheric turbulence effects. Using turbulence theory valid in both weak and strong optical turbulence regimes, a relationship between atmospheric beam spread and the resulting return power for an optical system and the refractive-index structure parameter or Cn2 can be established. A technique for estimating the path-averaged Cn2 using a laser-and-corner-cube system based on this relationship is described. Experimental results using near-infrared laser wavelengths show good agreement between theoretical predictions and scintillometer-measured Cn2 values for near-ground line-of-sight propagation paths.

Hyperspectral change detection offers a promising approach to detect objects and features of remotely sensed areas that are too difficult to find in single images, such as slight changes in land cover and the insertion, deletion, or movement of small objects, by exploiting subtle differences in the imagery over time. Methods for performing such change detection, however, must effectively maintain invariance to typically larger image-to-image changes in illumination and environmental conditions, as well as misregistration and viewing differences between image observations, while remaining sensitive to small differences in scene content. Previous research has established predictive algorithms to overcome such natural changes between images, and these approaches have recently been extended to deal with space-varying changes. The challenges to effective change detection, however, are often exacerbated in an airborne imaging geometry because of the limitations in control over flight conditions and geometry, and some of the recent change detection algorithms have not been demonstrated in an airborne setting. We describe the airborne implementation and relative performance of such methods. We specifically attempt to characterize the effects of spatial misregistration on change detection performance, the efficacy of class-conditional predictors in an airborne setting, and extensions to the change detection approach, including physically motivated shadow transition classifiers and matched change filtering based on in-scene atmospheric normalization.

An optical temperature sensor was created using a femtosecond micromachined diffraction grating inside transparent bulk 6H-SiC, and to the best of our knowledge, this is a novel technique of measuring temperature. Other methods of measuring temperature using fiber Bragg gratings have been devised by other groups such as Zhang and Kahrizi [in MEMS, NANO, and Smart Systems (IEEE, 2005)]. This temperature sensor was, to the best of our knowledge, also used for a novel method of measuring the linear and nonlinear coefficients of the thermal expansion of transparent and nontransparent materials by means of the grating first-order diffracted beam. Furthermore the coefficient of thermal expansion of 6H-SiC was measured using this new technique. A He-Ne laser beam was used with the SiC grating to produce a first-order diffracted beam where the change in deflection height was measured as a function of temperature. The grating was micromachined with a 20 microm spacing and has dimensions of approximately 500 microm x 500 microm (l x w) and is roughly 0.5 microm deep into the 6H-SiC bulk. A minimum temperature of 26.7 degrees C and a maximum temperature of 399 degrees C were measured, which gives a DeltaT of 372.3 degrees C. The sensitivity of the technique is DeltaT=5 degrees C. A maximum deflection angle of 1.81 degrees was measured in the first-order diffracted beam. The trend of the deflection with increasing temperature is a nonlinear polynomial of the second-order. This optical SiC thermal sensor has many high-temperature electronic applications such as aircraft turbine and gas tank monitoring for commercial and military applications.

Ladar-based vibrometry has been shown to be a powerful technique in enabling the plant identification of machines. Rather than sensing the geometric shape of a target laser vibrometers sense motions of the target induced by moving parts within the system. Since the target need not be spatially resolved, vibration can be sensed reliably and provide positive identification at ranges beyond the imaging limits of the aperture. However, as the range of observation increases, the diffraction-limited beam size on the target increases as well, and may encompass multiple vibrational modes on the target's surface. As a result, vibration estimates formed from large laser footprints illuminating multiple modes on a vibrating target will experience a degradation. This degradation is manifest as a spatial low-pass filtering effect: high-order mode shapes, associated with high-frequency vibrations, will be averaged out while low-frequency vibrations will be affected less. A model to predict this phenomenology is proposed for both pulse-pair and cw vibrometry systems. The cw model is compared to results obtained using an off-the-shelf laser vibrometry system.

The generation of multiple waves during near-oblique incidence of a 532 nm weakly focused beam on photorefractive iron-doped lithium niobate in a typical reflection geometry configuration is studied. It is shown that these waves are produced through two-wave coupling (self-diffraction) and four-wave mixing (parametric diffraction). One of these waves, the stimulated photorefractive backscatter produced from parametric diffraction, contains the self-phase conjugate. The dynamics of six-wave mixing and its dependence on crystal parameters, angle of incidence, and pump power are analyzed. What we believe to be a novel order analysis of the interaction equations provides further insight into experimental observations in the steady state. The quality of the backscatter is evaluated through image restoration, interference experiments, and visibility measurement. Reduction of two-wave coupling may significantly improve the quality of the self-phase conjugate.

Ben-David and Ren [Appl. Opt. 44, 3846 (2005)] discussed methods of estimating the concentration of chemical vapor plumes in hyperspectral images. The authors of that paper concluded that a technique called orthogonal subspace projection (OSP) produces better concentration estimates than background subtraction when certain stochastic noise conditions are present in the data. While that conclusion is correct, it is worth noting that the data can be whitened to improve the performance of the background subtraction method. In particular, if the noise is multivariate Gaussian, then whitening will ensure that the background subtraction method is superior to OSP.

A Cramer-Rao lower bound on the range accuracy obtainable by a Flash light detection and ranging (LADAR) system receiving a return from a single surface in the instantaneous field of view of each detector is developed and verified with experimental data. The bound is compared to the performance of a new algorithm and that of a matched filter receiver by using both simulated and measured LADAR data. The simulated data are used to show that the estimator is nearly unbiased and efficient for systems that match the negative paraboloid model used in its derivation. It is found that the achievable range accuracy for the LADAR system and for the target geometry used to collect the measured data is of the order of 2.5 in. while the bound predicts a range accuracy limit of approximately 0.6 in.

An alternative method for statistical interpolation is formalized. A new theorem is proved, providing theoretical basis for optimizing statistical accuracy in successively conditioned rendering applications. The theorem is empirically validated by two simulations, each comparing two different statistical interpolators. The interpolators are used to model high-resolution phase fluctuations over finite apertures. The theorem correctly predicts which interpolator is more optimal, based on empirical trials with greater than 99.9% certainty. The theorem is suitable as a quick alternative to the Monte Carlo optimization techniques used previously.

The spatial distribution of the power transfer achieved by contradirectional two-beam coupling using self-pumped photorefractive reflection gratings is investigated in two materials with different photorefractive gain coefficients, LiNbO3:Fe and KNbO3:Fe. Incremental portions of the volume grating are erased optically by inducing thin optical damage planes, reducing the overall two-beam coupling efficiency. By monitoring the effect of local grating disruption, the distribution of power transfer is spatially resolved throughout the crystal, and the results are found to be in agreement with our theoretical predictions.

We present a method to independently measure the refractive index and the thickness of materials having flat and parallel sides by using a combination of Michelson and Fabry-Perot interferometry techniques. The method has been used to determine refractive-index values in the infrared with uncertainties in the third decimal place and thicknesses accurate to within +/- 5 microm for materials at room and cryogenic temperatures.

Improvements to an algorithm for performing spectral unmixing of hyperspectral imagery based on the stochastic mixing model (SMM) are presented. The SMM provides a method for characterizing both subpixel mixing of the pure image constituents, or endmembers, and statistical variation in the endmember spectra that is due, for example, to sensor noise and natural variability of the pure constituents. Modifications of the iterative, expectation maximization approach to deriving the SMM parameter estimates are proposed, and their effects on unmixing performance are characterized. These modifications specifically concern algorithm initialization, random class assignment, and mixture constraints. The results show that the enhanced stochastic mixing model provides a better statistical representation of hyperspectral imagery from the perspective of achieving greater endmember class separation.

A method to determine the absolute refractive index of materials available in the shape of flat wafers with parallel sides by using interferometric techniques is presented. With this method, nondestructive, sample-specific measurements can be made. The method is tested by using silicon, germanium and zinc selenide, and measurements for both the ordinary and extraordinary axes of ZnGeP2 for temperatures of 300 and 77 K are reported.

We have demonstrated a target ranging and identification technique based on the timing modulation of a mode-locked laser coupled with fast incoherent detection. The range-to-target and the target-depth information have been determined with a resolution of better than 25 cm at single-pulse signal-to-noise ratios below 0.1. Our modeling results suggest that laser average power requirements remain a challenge, with upwards of 100 W likely needed for extension of this technique to ranges over 10 km, but improvements in overall system throughput would allow realization of its potential.

A detailed investigation of frequency doubling of a transversely excited atmospheric CO2 laser operating at 9.55 microm with a CdGeAs2 crystal was carried out. The temperature of the crystal was varied between 80 and 295 K to maximize the frequency-doubled energy. The temporal shape of the generated beam at 4.775 microm was monitored to calculate its peak power. High values of midwave infrared pulse energy (16.65 mJ) and peak power (92 kW) were obtained, which can be of potential use in lidar systems.

Gallogermanate glasses are the subject of intense study as a result of their unique combination of physical and optical properties, including transmission from 0.4 to beyond 5.0 microm. These glasses can be easily made into large optics with high-index homogeneity for numerous U.S. Department of Defense and commercial visible-IR window applications such as reconnaissance, missile domes, IR countermeasures, avionics, and collision avoidance on automobiles. These applications require a knowledge of the refractive index of glass throughout the region of transmission. Consequently, we have measured the refractive index of BaO-Ga2O3-GeO2 glass from 0.4 to 5.0 microm and calculated the Sellmeier coefficients required for optical device design.

A formulation of signal-to-noise ratio is constructed that uses temporal integrated images from image sequences. Given a blurred image that drifts horizontally at various speeds and at various linear blurs, we prove that this formulation of the signal-to-noise ratio consistently increases with an increase in speed. This increase is shown to model the trends in the human vision system by which drifting blurred images are perceived with increased sharpness. The existing widely used objective quality techniques fail to model the perceptual increase in sharpness. This new formulation, along with other objective quality measures, is tested on several blurred drifting image sequences. The new formulation reflects the theoretically predicted increase in perceived sharpness.

A Wiener filter-based deconvolution algorithm is developed to restore vibration-degraded video imagery from an intensified CCD camera. The method is based on the use of azimuth and elevation angular optical line-of-sight data recorded from external sensors to estimate a two-dimensional vibration-blur impulse response on a per frame basis. Flight conditions are reproduced in the laboratory by use of prerecorded in-flight vibration data. The performance of the algorithm varies from frame to frame, following the time-varying characteristics of the vibration-blur impulse response. However, real-time display of the restored video minimizes these effects because of eye integration, and near-full restoration of the original uncorrupted imagery is observed for both high-light- and low-light-level conditions with minimal amplification of noise.

For adaptive optical systems to compensate for atmospheric turbulence effects, the wave-front perturbation must be measured with a wave-front sensor (WFS) and corrected with a deformable mirror. One limitation in this process is the time delay between the measurement of the aberrated wave front and implementation of the proper correction. Statistical techniques exist for predicting the atmospheric aberrations at the time of correction based on the present and past measured wave fronts. However, for the statistical techniques to be effective, key parameters of the atmosphere and the adaptive optical system must be known. These parameters include the Fried coherence length r(0), the atmospheric wind-speed profile, and the WFS slope measurement error. Neural networks provide nonlinear solutions to adaptive optical problems while offering the possibility to function under changing seeing conditions without actual knowledge of the current state of the key parameters. We address the use of neural networks for WFS slope measurement prediction with only the noisy WFS measurements as inputs. Where appropriate, we compare with classical statistical-based methods to determine if neural networks offer true benefits in performance.

It is shown that the equations relating the radial profiles of the volume emission and absorption coefficients to the transmission and emitted intensity profiles in self-absorbing cylindrically symmetric sources, can be written in such a way that the problem of spatially resolving the volume emission coefficient gives rise to a Volterra integral equation of the second kind in a standard form. The theory of equations of this type is invoked to show the formal convergence of an iterative solution to the problem, subject only to a finite transmission and bounded slope to the absorption coefficient. A prescription for applying this iterative procedure is given that involves a series of numerical integrations and Abel inversions, and the convergence of some numerical solutions is demonstrated.

Spicer's absorption diffusion model is extended to analyze Schottky photodiodes which possess special characteristics. The model describes the generation of minority carriers by optical absorption in the bulk of a semiconductor material. The magnitude and shape of the spectral response for a minimally depleted device is found to depend on the rate of variation of the absorption coefficient with wavelength on the thickness of the absorbing region T and on the minority carrier's diffusion length l. Narrow spectral response can exist in this device only in the wavelength region wherein the absorption coefficient alpha is rapidly changing. A combination of high quantum efficiency with sharp tuning is found to exist.

By an analysis of the photodetection process, the response of photodetectors to wide band, noncoherent light and guidelines for its improvement are determined. In this paper, the phenomenon of multiple reflections within the emitter of a reflecting-translucent and a reflecting-opaque photocathode is analyzed. Geometrical and optical configurations and solid state parameters are evaluated in terms of their effect on the photodetection process. The quantum yield, the percent of incident light absorbed, and the collection efficiency are determined as functions of the thickness of the emitting layer. These results are then employed to suggest areas of improvement in the use of state-of-the-art photocathodes.

In order to evaluate methods of enhancing the response of state-of-the-art photocathodes, such as the S-20, we have used a mathematical absorption-diffusion model to study the effects of skewed incidence of light on the quantum efficiency. The phenomenon of increased optical absorption due to multiple reflections of light within the emitting layer-glass substrate combination is treated as a function of the angle of incidence. When the quantum efficiency generated for skewed incidence is compared with the quantum yield generated for normal incidence, a gain of 3.5 is predicted. The gain is greatest for the smallest absorption coefficient-photocathode thickness product.