Passive SWIR airglow illuminated imaging compared with NIR-visible for low-light nighttime observations

摘要

It is well known that luminance from photo-chemical reactions of hydroxyl ions in the upper atmosphere (~85 km altitude) produces a significant amount of night time radiation in the short wave infra-red (SWIR) band with wavelength between 0.9 and 1.7 μm. By examining images in an urban and a rural setting, we investigate the correlation between the appearances of passive dark of night images in the SWIR with NIR- visible. The experimental setup consists of two sensors, a NIR-visible CCD and an InGaAs array sensitive in the SWIR, both colocated on an AZ-EL mount, and both co-boresighted so that different viewing angles of the sky and terrestrial scenes are possible. By making corrections for focal length and pixel size, the visible and SWIR data can be compared. After taking several nights of data in the urban environment of Albuquerque, NM, the entire system was then re-located to a rural location on the island of Kauai in a rural setting with very low ambient light. It is shown that under most conditions the SWIR sensor produces significantly better imagery using the airglow illumination source.