Abstract

We consider image motion in the visual field of an observer moving through a rigid environment under mirage conditions, in which light rays follow curved trajectories as a result of a nonuniform atmospheric refractive index. We show that, under these conditions, the translation motion field does not conform to the simple pattern observed in the absence of refraction; instead it depends on the transfer characteristic of the mirage. An interesting finding is that if the mirage has a transfer characteristic that folds, as occurs for example in the desert mirage, the motion field will, in general, be infinite at the fold point.

© 1994 Optical Society of America

Mirages with atmospheric gravity waves

Waldemar H. Lehn, Wayne K. Silvester, and David M. Fraser
Appl. Opt. 33(21) 4639-4643 (1994)

Simulation of mirages

W. H. Lehn and W. Friesen
Appl. Opt. 31(9) 1267-1273 (1992)

Inversion of mirage data: an optimization approach

P. D. Sozou
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11(1) 125-134 (1994)

Mirage formation in the thermal region

R. N. Singh, S. S. Negi, A. K. Sahay, A. Singh, K. O. G. Varughese, and A. K. Walia
Appl. Opt. 33(15) 3279-3280 (1994)

Long-range superior mirages

Waldemar H. Lehn and Thomas L. Legal
Appl. Opt. 37(9) 1489-1494 (1998)