Simulation of imaging of space-based objects through cirrus clouds

摘要

This paper discusses a simulation of the imaging of a space-based object through cirrus clouds. The wavefront reflected by the object is propagated to the top of the cloud using Huygens-Fresnel propagation theory. At the top of the cloud, the wavefront is divided into an array of input rays, which are in turn transmitted through the cloud model using the CIRIS-C software. At the bottom of the cloud, the output ray distribtion is used to reconstruct a wavefront that continues propagating to the ground receiver. Images of the object as seen through cirrus clouds with different optical depths are compared to a diffraction-limited image. Turbulence effects from the atmospheric propagation are not included.