The performance of an active optical imaging radar in the turbulent atmosphere

This research investigates the performance of an active optical imaging radar system which is viewino a diffusely reflecting rough surface through the turbulent atmosphere. The mathematical formulation of this problem is not amenable to standard statistical techniques so that we examine a collection of related simplifications in order to evaluate the performance of this system. The results thus obtained indicate that appropriate utilization of the active aspect of the radar system can significantly improve the attainable performance. Returnina to the original formulation, we discuss several suboptimal imaging techniques which are adapted from techniques employed in simpler contexts and which partially circumvent image degradations due to turbulence. Finally, we describe certain practical applications for this system. THESIS SUPERVISOR: E. V. Hoversten TITLE: Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering