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The thermal contrast alpha, and the umbra-penumbra A(u)/A(p) were calculated for 63 sunspots of various sizes and morphologies. Results show that values of alpha ranged from 0.1807 to 0.4266 and A(u)/A(p) ranged from 0.0089 to 0.4899. The values of thermal contrast and umbra-penumbra were compared with complexity ratings, magnetic field strength, and time factors and found to be independent of these parameters.
A systematic approach is presented for obtaining the optimal polarimetric matched filter, which produces maximum contrast between two scattering classes in polarimetric radar images. The maximization procedure involves solving an eigenvalue problem when the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum contrast ratio is optimal polarimetric matched filter. It is shown how to realize the filter in terms of an equivalent transmitting and receiving polarization pair. The case where the radar transmitting polarization state is fixed is addressed. Here, the receiving polarization state is optimized so that the maximum constrast ratio is attained under this constraint.
Stripe patterns of varying spatial frequency, formed in the top-metalization of a back-illuminated solid-state imager, facilitate on-line measurement of contrast transfer function during wafer-probe testing. The imager may be packaged to allow front-illumination during in-the-field testing after its manufacture.
NASA WFIRST mission has planned to include a coronagraph instrument to find and characterize exoplanets. Masks are needed to suppress the host star light to better than 10-8 – 10-9 level contrast over a broad bandwidth to enable the coronagraph mission objectives. Such masks for high contrast coronagraphic imaging require various fabrication technologies to meet a wide range of specifications, including precise shapes, micron scale island features, ultra-low reflectivity regions, uniformity, wave front quality, etc. We present the technologies employed at JPL to produce these pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks, and lab-scale external occulter masks, highlighting accomplishments from the high contrast imaging testbed (HCIT) at JPL and from the high contrast imaging lab (HCIL) at Princeton University. Inherent systematic and random errors in fabrication and their impact on coronagraph performance are discussed with model predictions and measurements.
The pair-wise estimation has been used now on various testbeds with different coronagraphs with the best contrast results to date. Pinholes estimate has been implemented and ready to be tested in closed loop correction. Pinholes estimate offers an independent method. We hope to improve the calibration process to gain better estimates.
A perturbation-theoretic approximation of the radiative transfer equation which neglects photon dispersion is used as a modeling basis for the propagation of the image of a self-luminous target through a turbulent atmosphere which also possesses inhomogeneously distributed turbidity along the propagation path. A contrast ratio is then introduced which provides an indicator of the relative contribution of the unscattered or coherent image component to that of the scattered or incoherent image component. Analytical expressions are then derived for the contrast ratio from the approximate form of the radiative transfer equation in the case of an inhomogeneously dispersed Joss thunderstorm rain distribution in the presence of turbulence. The case is clearly demonstrated for the need to consider a measure of the points of demarcation at which the dominant roles of the scattering processes due to turbidity and turbulence are exchanged. Such a measure can provide a performance parameter for the application of adaptive optics methods that are specific to the particular dominant scattering mechanism given the prevailing target size, total propagation length and overall propagation parameters.
The technique of x-ray projection microscopy is being used to view, in real time, the structures and dynamics of the solid-liquid interface during solidification. By employing a hard x-ray source with sub-micron dimensions, resolutions of 2 micrometers can be obtained with magnifications of over 800 X. Specimen growth conditions need to be optimized and the best imaging technologies applied to maintain x-ray image resolution, contrast and sensitivity. It turns out that no single imaging technology offers the best solution and traditional methods like radiographic film cannot be used due to specimen motion (solidification). In addition, a special furnace design is required to permit controlled growth conditions and still offer maximum resolution and image contrast.
The technique of x-ray projection microscopy is being used to view, in real time, the structures and dynamics of the solid-liquid interface during solidification. By employing a hard x-ray source with sub-micron dimensions, resolutions of 2 microns can be obtained with magnifications of over 800 X. Specimen growth conditions need to be optimized and the best imaging technologies applied to maintain x-ray image resolution, contrast and sensitivity. It turns out that no single imaging technology offers the best solution and traditional methods like radiographic film cannot be used due to specimen motion (solidification). In addition, a special furnace design is required to permit controlled growth conditions and still offer maximum resolution and image contrast.
To find evidence of life in the Universe outside our solar system is one of the most compelling and visionary adventures of the 21st century. The technologies to create the telescopes and instruments that will enable this discovery are now within the grasp of mankind. Direct imaging of a very faint planet around a neighboring bright star requires high contrast or a hypercontrast optical imaging system capable of controlling unwanted radiation within the system to one part in ten to the 11th. This paper identifies several physical phenomena that affect image quality in high contrast imaging systems. Polarization induced at curved metallic surfaces and by anisotropy in the deposition process (Smith-Purcell effect) along with beam shifts introduced by the Goos-Hachen effect are discussed. A typical configuration is analyzed, and technical risk mitigation concepts are discussed.
This research applies a state of the art X-ray Transmission Microscope, to image the solidification of metallic or semiconductor alloys in real-time. By employing a hard x-ray source with sub-micron dimensions, resolutions of up to 3 gm can be obtained with magnifications of over 800 X. Specimen growth conditions were optimized and the best imaging technologies applied to maintain x-ray image resolution, contrast and sensitivity. In addition, a special furnace design is required to permit controlled growth conditions and still offer maximum resolution and image contrast. We have successfully imaged in real-time: interfacial morphologies, phase growth, coalescence, incorporation of phases into the growing interface, and the solute boundary layer in the liquid at the solid-liquid inter-face. We have also measured true local growth rates and can evaluate segregation structures in the solid; a form of in-situ metallography. Composition gradients within the specimen cause vafiations in absorption of the flux such that the final image represents a spatial integral of composition (or thickness). During this study, the growth of secondary phase fibers and lameilae from eutectic and monotectic alloys have been imaged during solidification, in real-time, for the first time in bulk metal alloys. Keywords: x-ray, microscope, solidification, microfocus, real-time, microstructure
Myocardial perfusion imaging has long been a goal for the non-invasive echocardiographic assessment of the heart. However, many factors at play in perfusion imaging have made this goal elusive. Harmonic imaging and triggered imaging with newer contrast agents have made myocardial perfusion imaging potentially practical in the very near future. The application of indicator dilution theory to the coronary circulation and bubble contrast agents is fraught with complexities and sources of error. Therefore, quantification of myocardial perfusion by non-invasive echocardiographic imaging requires further investigation in order to make this technique clinically viable.
The stability of active contour models or 'snakes' is studied. It is shown that the modification of snake parameters using adaptive systems improves both the stability of the snakes and the boundaries obtained. The adaptive snakes perform better with images of varying contrasts, noisy images and images with different curvatures along the boundaries. The computational costs at each iteration for the adaptive snakes is still of order N, where N is the number of points on the snakes. Comparisons of the results for non-adaptive and adaptive snakes are shown using both computer simulations and satellite images.
In a setup similar to the self coherent camera, we have added a set of pinholes in the diffraction ring of the Lyot plane in a high-contrast stellar Lyot coronagraph. We describe a novel complex electric field reconstruction from image plane intensity measurements consisting of light in the coronagraph's dark hole interfering with light from the pinholes. The image plane field is modified by letting light through one pinhole at a time. In addition to estimation of the field at the science camera, this method allows for self-calibration of the probes by letting light through the pinholes in various permutations while blocking the main Lyot opening. We present results of estimation and calibration from the High Contrast Imaging Testbed along with a comparison to the pair-wise deformable mirror diversity based estimation technique. Tests are carried out in narrow-band light and over a composite 10% bandpass.
High-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets can provide many important observables, including measurements of the orbit, spectra that probe the lower layers of the atmosphere, and phase variations of the planet, but cannot directly measure planet radius or mass. Our future understanding of directly imaged exoplanets will therefore rely on extrapolated models of planetary atmospheres and bulk composition, which need robust calibration. We estimate the population of extrasolar planets that could serve as calibrators for these models. Critically, this population of "standard planets" must be accessible to both direct imaging and the transit method, allowing for radius measurement. We show that the search volume of a direct imaging mission eventually overcomes the transit probability falloff with semimajor axis, so that as long as cold planets are not exceedingly rare, the population of transiting planets and directly imageable planets overlaps. Using current extrapolations of Kepler occurrence rates, we estimate that ~8 standard planets could be characterized shortward of 800 nm with an ambitious future direct imaging mission like LUVOIR-A and several dozen could be detected at the V band. We show the design space that would expand the sample size and discuss the extent to which ground- and space-based surveys could detect this small but crucial population of planets.
Image discrimination models predict the number of just-noticeable-differences between two images. We report the predictions of a single channel model with contrast masking for a range of standard discrimination experiments. Despite its computational simplicity, this model has performed as well as a multiple channel model in an object detection task.
Debris dust in the habitable zones of stars otherwise known as exozodiacal dust comes from extrasolar asteroids and comets and is thus an expected part of a planetary system. Background flux from the Solar Systems zodiacal dust and the exozodiacal dust in the target system is likely to be the largest source of astrophysical noise in direct observations of terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of nearby stars. Furthermore, dust structures like clumps, thought to be produced by dynamical interactions with exoplanets, are a possible source of confusion. In this paper, we qualitatively assess the primary impact of exozodical dust on high-contrast direct imaging at optical wavelengths, such as would be performed with a coronagraph. Then we present the sensitivity of previous, current, and near-term facilities to thermal emission from debris dust at all distances from nearby solar-type stars, as well as our current knowledge of dust levels from recent surveys. Finally, we address the other method of detecting debris dust, through high-contrast imaging in scattered light. This method is currently far less sensitive than thermal emission observations, but provides high spatial resolution for studying dust structures. This paper represents the first report of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG).
Star light suppression technologies to find and characterize faint exoplanets include internal coronagraph instruments as well as external star shade occulters. Currently, the NASA WFIRST-AFTA mission study includes an internal coronagraph instrument to find and characterize exoplanets. Various types of masks could be employed to suppress the host star light to about 10 -9 level contrast over a broad spectrum to enable the coronagraph mission objectives. Such masks for high contrast internal coronagraphic imaging require various fabrication technologies to meet a wide range of specifications, including precise shapes, micron scale island features, ultra-low reflectivity regions, uniformity, wave front quality, achromaticity, etc. We present the approaches employed at JPL to produce pupil plane and image plane coronagraph masks by combining electron beam, deep reactive ion etching, and black silicon technologies with illustrative examples of each, highlighting milestone accomplishments from the High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) at JPL and from the High Contrast Imaging Lab (HCIL) at Princeton University. We also present briefly the technologies applied to fabricate laboratory scale star shade masks.
Experimental studies have indicated that: (1) The response of digitized fluoroscopic imaging systems is linear systems is linear with contrast over a rather wide range of absorber and cavity thicknesses. (2) Contrast changes associated with the addition of aluminum, iodine containing contrast agents and air of thicknesses 1mm or less can be detected with a 95% confidence level. (3) The standard deviation associated with such determination using clinically available X-ray generators and video disc recording is less than 1 percent. A large flat screen X-ray image intensifier has been constructed and some preliminary results obtained. Sensitivity achieved makes dose reduction a factor often greater than previously reported for a system using a conventional X-ray image intensifier.