Modern thermal imaging systems are widely used because of their broad military and commercial application range. The performance of the first generations of thermal imagers was limited by resolution and thermal sensitivity. Brightness and contrast adjustments were also the crux of the image quality. From a military user perspective, the amount of details and the interpretation of a scene depends, among others, on the experience of the user and on the time available to complete those adjustments. Modern imagers now feature embedded digital processing that can automatically adjust the device parameters in order to optimize the image quality. With the combined improvements in microprocessor power and microfabrication processes, digital processing enhanced the thermal imagers’ performance until they eventually became limited by their ability to react to different operational scenarios. That brings the need for testing the reaction of digital processing in such operational scenarios. Meanwhile, there were no significant modification in testing methodologies and metrics used for the assessment of thermal imagers. In this paper, we present DRDC-Valcartier Research Centre’s efforts to develop a test bench to measure the efficiency of the digital processing embedded in thermal imagers. The purpose of the testing methodology is to provide reliable, repeatable and user-independent metrics. Outputs quantitatively highlight the impact of digital processing for various operational situations and allow the performance of devices to be compared.
The last decades have brought significant improvements in materials, microfabrication, manufacturing processes, microelectronic fabrication, optical design tools and microprocessing power. It has allowed the development of novel types and designs of electro-optical (EO) military systems having, among others, the following added capabilities: wide field of view, extended spectral response, multifunction devices, image fusion and embedded image processing. Meanwhile, the international standards that regulate the testing and evaluation of EO systems, developed in the 1990s, have not been updated to include those new capabilities that are important on the battlefield. As a result, those standards are often no longer suitable to characterize current state-of-art EO systems and to support major military EO systems acquisition projects. In this paper, we present an overview of some novel testing capabilities developed over the last decade at DRDCValcartier Research Centre that aim at comparing, in a controlled environment, the performance and limitations of EO military systems under different representative operational conditions. Those novel testing capabilities do not aim at replacing standard testing procedures, but rather at complementing them. Methodologies developed to test thermal imagers, wide-field-of-view night vision google, image intensifier tubes and lasers are described.
Thermal infrared imaging is a field of science that evolves rapidly. Scientists have used for years the simplest tool: thermal
broadband cameras. These allow to perform target characterization in both the longwave (LWIR) and midwave (MWIR)
infrared spectral range. Infrared thermal imaging is used for a wide range of applications, especially in the combustion
domain. For example, it can be used to follow combustion reactions, in order to characterize the injection and the ignition
in a combustion chamber or even to observe gases produced by a flare or smokestack. Most combustion gases, such as
carbon dioxide (CO2), selectively absorb/emit infrared radiation at discrete energies, i.e. over a very narrow spectral range.
Therefore, temperatures derived from broadband imaging are not reliable without prior knowledge of spectral emissivity.
This information is not directly available from broadband images. However, spectral information is available using spectral
filters. In this work, combustion analysis was carried out using a Telops MS-IR MW camera, which allows multispectral
imaging at a high frame rate. A motorized filter wheel allowing synchronized acquisitions on eight (8) different channels
was used to provide time-resolved multispectral imaging of combustion products of a candle in which black powder has
been burnt to create a burst. It was then possible to estimate the temperature by modeling spectral profiles derived from
information obtained with the different spectral filters. Comparison with temperatures obtained using conventional
broadband imaging illustrates the benefits of time-resolved multispectral imaging for the characterization of combustion
processes.
Thermal infrared imaging is a field of science that evolves rapidly. Scientists have used for years the simplest tool: thermal broadband cameras. This allows to perform target characterization in both the longwave (LWIR) and midwave (MWIR) infrared spectral range. Infrared thermal imaging is used for a wide range of applications, especially in the combustion domain. For example, it can be used to follow combustion reactions, in order to characterize the injection and the ignition in a combustion chamber or even to observe gases produced by a flare or smokestack. Most combustion gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) selectively absorb/emit infrared radiation at discrete energies, i.e. over a very narrow spectral range. Therefore, temperatures derived from broadband imaging are not reliable without prior knowledge about spectral emissivity. This information is not directly available from broadband images. However, spectral information is available using spectral filters. In this work, combustion analysis was carried out using Telops MS-IR MW camera which allows multispectral imaging at a high frame rate. A motorized filter wheel allowing synchronized acquisitions on eight (8) different channels was used to provide time-resolved multispectral imaging of combustion products of a candle in which black powder has been burnt to create a burst. It was then possible to estimate the temperature by modeling spectral profile derived from information obtained with the different spectral filters. Comparison with temperatures obtained using conventional broadband imaging illustrates the benefits of time-resolved multispectral imaging for the characterization of combustion processes.
For years, scientists have used thermal broadband cameras to perform target characterization in the longwave (LWIR)
and midwave (MWIR) infrared spectral bands. The analysis of broadband imaging sequences typically provides energy,
morphological and/or spatiotemporal information. However, there is very little information about the chemical nature of
the investigated targets when using such systems due to the lack of spectral content in the images. In order to improve
the outcomes of these studies, Telops has developed dynamic multispectral imaging systems which allow synchronized
acquisition on 8 channels, at a high frame rate, using a motorized filter wheel. An overview of the technology is
presented in this work as well as results from measurements of solvent vapors and minerals. Time-resolved multispectral
imaging carried out with the Telops system illustrates the benefits of spectral information obtained at a high frame rate
when facing situations involving dynamic events such as gas cloud dispersion. Comparison of the results obtained using
the information from the different acquisition channels with the corresponding broadband infrared images illustrates the
selectivity enabled by multispectral imaging for characterization of gas and solid targets.
For years, scientists have used thermal broadband cameras to perform target characterization in the longwave (LWIR)
and midwave (MWIR) infrared spectral bands. The analysis of broadband imaging sequences typically provides energy,
morphological and/or spatiotemporal information. However, there is very little information about the chemical nature of
the investigated targets when using such systems due to the lack of spectral content in the images. In order to improve
the outcomes of these studies, Telops has developed dynamic multispectral imaging systems which allow synchronized
acquisition on 8 channels, at a high frame rate, using a motorized filter wheel. An overview of the technology is
presented in this work as well as results from measurements of solvent vapors and minerals. Time-resolved multispectral
imaging carried out with the Telops system illustrates the benefits of spectral information obtained at a high frame rate
when facing situations involving dynamic events such as gas cloud dispersion. Comparison of the results obtained using
the information from the different acquisition channels with the corresponding broadband infrared images illustrates the
selectivity enabled by multispectral imaging for characterization of gas and solid targets.
For years, scientists have been using broadband cameras to perform measurements in the infrared spectral bands. In order to improve the outcomes of these studies, Telops has developed a fast multispectral imaging system in the LWIR and MWIR band.
This paper presents the improvement that a fast infrared multispectral imager adds to the traditional infrared investigations and how this system can be applied in defence innovation research. An overview over the technology is presented and discussed along the results obtained during a combustion experiment.
We present new results on the dynamics of laser amplifiers based on two-photon stimulated transitions. We have
developed a mathematical model predicting stronger gain and faster saturation than what is observed in a conventional
one-photon amplifier. We also demonstrate that two-photon stimulated emission can lead to pulse narrowing with
compression factors over 5.
We present new results on supercontinuum generation obtained with a high-power Er-doped femtosecond fiber laser. Our results cover many different types of optical fibers: silica, dispersion-shifted fibers, doped fibers, etc. We have obtained supercontinua covering a wide spectrum from the visible to the mid-infrared ( >2μm ). We also identified third harmonic generation phenomena and we present experimental results that may exhibit the signature of two-photon absorption in an Yb-doped fiber.
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