Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Resolution limits in imaging ladar systems

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

We introduce a new design concept of laser radar systems that combines both phase comparison and time-of-flight methods. We show from signal-to-noise ratio considerations that there is a fundamental limit to the overall resolution in three-dimensional imaging range laser radar (ladar). We introduce a new metric, volume of resolution, and we show from quantum noise considerations that there is a maximum resolution volume that can be achieved for a given set of system parameters. Consequently, there is a direct trade-off between range resolution and spatial resolution. Thus, in a ladar system, range resolution may be maximized at the expense of spatial image resolution and vice versa. We introduce resolution efficiency ηr as a new figure of merit for ladar that describes system resolution under the constraints of a specific design, compared with its optimal resolution performance derived from quantum noise considerations. We analyze how the resolution efficiency could be utilized to improve the resolution performance of a ladar system. Our analysis could be extended to all ladars, regardless of whether they are imaging or scanning laser systems.

© 2006 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Computational LADAR imaging

Arthita Ghosh, Michael A. Powers, and Vishal M. Patel
Appl. Opt. 56(3) B191-B197 (2017)

Ladar scene projector for a hardware-in-the-loop simulation system

Rui Xu, Xin Wang, Yi Tian, and Zhuo Li
Appl. Opt. 55(21) 5745-5755 (2016)

Super-resolution for flash ladar imagery

Shuowen Hu, S. Susan Young, Tsai Hong, Joseph P. Reynolds, Keith Krapels, Brian Miller, Jim Thomas, and Oanh Nguyen
Appl. Opt. 49(5) 772-780 (2010)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (7)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Equations (34)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Equations are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved