DIFFRACTION CORRECTIONS IN RADIOMETRY: A PROPOSED METHOD TO ESTIMATE UNCERTAINTIES

摘要

Radiometric determination of certain quantities, such as source radiance, geometrical aspects of an optical system (e.g., throughput, aperture areas), and detector response, relies on the mathematical principles governing geometrical optics. These principles permit one to predict the values of quantities sought to be analyzed with measurements. Such analysis is hampered, however, by "diffraction effects" on the performance of optical systems, because of the actual wave-like nature of light, which differs from the conceptual ray-like nature assumed in geometrical optics. "Diffraction corrections," which are designed to compensate for diffraction effects, have uncertainties that constitute a component of the total uncertainties of final results obtained from a radiometric measurement. Here, we propose an empirical method to estimate the uncertainties of diffraction corrections.