ATMOSPHERIC SCATTERING EFFECT ON SPATIAL-RESOLUTION OF IMAGING-SYSTEMS

The issue that we examine was at the center of a recent scientific deb ate. A new model by Sadot and Kopeika [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 10, 172 (199 3)] suggested a practical approach to the imaging process through the atmosphere. A comment on that model by Bissonnette [J. Opt. Sec. Am. A 11, 1175 (1994)] and the response to that comment by Kopeika and Sado t IJ. Opt. Sec. Am. A 12, 1017 (1995)] only underlined the open questi ons in this field of atmospheric blurring effects. We suggest a physic al model that describes the relationship between the optical propertie s of the atmosphere and the characteristics of an imaging system. The model describes how different components of the light that are reachin g the imaging system, after passing through the atmosphere, are detect ed by it. The model includes the effects of the finite size of the det ector elements of the imaging system and the dynamic range and the fin ite field-of-view limits of the imager. After the presentation of the model, theoretical predictions and their comparisons with the experime ntal data of Kopeika and of Bissonnette are given. (C) 1997 Optical So ciety of America.