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Journal of the Optical Society of America A Feature Announcement

Synthetic Aperture Imaging in Astronomy and Aerospace

Submission Opens: 1 September 2016

Submission Deadline: 1 November 2016

Aperture synthesis methods allow the reconstruction of images with the angular resolution appropriate to or exceeding that of extremely large monolithic apertures by using arrays of smaller apertures. The application of these techniques has revolutionized high-resolution imaging astronomy, initially at radio wavelengths but increasingly at visible and infrared wavelengths, by providing angular resolutions unavailable using any other imaging technique. The success of these techniques has inspired major new initiatives within the astronomy community such as the Planet Formation Imager. At the same time, aperture synthesis techniques have seen a surge of interest in addressing imaging for aerospace applications, with both passive/incoherent and active/coherent imaging strategies being pursued for ground-based and space-based missions alike. These initiatives have sparked a new wave of research into pushing the boundaries of what is possible in aperture synthesis techniques, including amplitude interferometry, laser radar, and intensity interferometry. We welcome contributions on advances in synthetic aperture imaging.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • New architectures for synthetic-aperture imaging systems
  • Image reconstruction algorithms
  • Techniques for cophasing and coherencing of aperture arrays
  • New approaches to hardware and detectors that increase system sensitivity and throughput
  • Active and passive imaging
  • Modeling and instrument design
  • Image and data analysis
  • Calibration, stability and environmental effects

This issue will feature both invited and contributed papers presenting results or technical discussion at a level of detail consistent with JOSA A. All articles should be original and significant contributions to the field placed in the proper context.

Submission of supplemental material is encouraged for this feature issue. Recognizing the importance of different types of supplemental materials, OSA has expanded its options so that authors can now provide external links to their large datasets, code, and design files in their manuscripts in addition to their visualizations and tabular data files (see Author Guidelines for Supplementary Materials in OSA Journals). Not only do these new types of supplemental materials enhance the quality of a manuscript, but they also enrich the experience for readers.

All papers need to present original, previously unpublished work, and will be subject to the normal standards and peer-review process of the journal. Manuscripts must be prepared according to the usual standards for submission to JOSA A and must be uploaded through OSA's electronic submission system. When submitting, please specify that the manuscript is for the Synthetic Aperture Imaging in Astronomy and Aerospace feature issue (choose from the drop-down menu).

Feature Issue Editors:

David Buscher, University of Cambridge, UK
Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, NM
Michael Shao, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CA