THERMAL-IMAGE GENERATION BY LINE-SCANNING TECHNIQUE - A NEW COMPUTER-MODEL

A new computer model for the generation of thermal images of a flat te rrain by the line-scanning technique from a moving platform is present ed. The model is based on a bottom-up simulation process and the pixel -by-pixel generation of infrared thermal images. The terrain is modele d by a periodic repetition of an arbitrary two-dimensional temperature distribution over a flat area. The double discrete Fourier series of the terrain temperature, including correlation length and the transfer function of the scanning optics, is used. Several computer-generated thermal images are produced to illustrate the model. The geometrical d eformations, the space filtration, and the gray-level variation with t he scanning angle on generated images are in agreement with theoretica l predictions.