Principles of the formation of laser radar image being observed through a sea surface and water thickness

Alexandr G. Luchinin

doi:10.1117/12.188155

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23 September 1994 Principles of the formation of laser radar image being observed through a sea surface and water thickness

Alexandr G. Luchinin

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Proceedings Volume 2271, Industrial Applications of Laser Radar; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.188155
Event: SPIE's 1994 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging, and Instrumentation, 1994, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

A great number of articles, special reference books and monographs are dedicated to the problem of underwater objects visibility. However many important problems remain unsolved. It concerns the underwater objects visibility through rough surface mainly. The present article is dedicated to the main aspects of this problem, exactly to the underwater objects observation with the aid of certain devices using artificial (laser) illumination. The notion of the image signal/noise ratio is introduced which takes into account both shot noises and signal fluctuations caused by a random air/water interface. Various methods of image formation for optic observation systems are considered. It is shown that the best results are obtained with the aid of the system, which has the maximum space and time averaging of fluctuations during the signal formation. Most important is the conclusion that the equivalence of two most popular methods of image formation (known in the theory visibility in turbid media) is violated, when observation is performed through a rough sea surface. In the considered case the best parameters has a system, which uses a pulsed laser beam of illumination with a wide aperture and a multi-unit receiver with time gating. The examples of calculation of the main characteristics of such systems are given.

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Alexandr G. Luchinin "Principles of the formation of laser radar image being observed through a sea surface and water thickness", Proc. SPIE 2271, Industrial Applications of Laser Radar, (23 September 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.188155

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