Effect of light-collection geometry on reconstruction errors in Abel inversions

The Abel inversion, used to reconstruct axisymmetric radial profiles from l ine-of-sight intensity measurements, is increasingly used to make spatially resolved combustion measurements. An Abel deconvolution is valid only when incoming rays are parallel, whereas most practical optical setups used for emission imaging consist of single-lens and multilens systems that collect light in a cone, over a nonzero solid angle. A ray-tracing simulation was performed to aid in understanding how optical collection geometry affects m easured intensity signals and the resultant reconstructed emissivity profil es. Simulation results are compared with emission tomography measurements p erformed on an axisymmetric laminar diffusion flame. (C) 2000 Optical Socie ty of America OCIS codes: 120.1740, 110.6960.