Refining Atmosphere Profiles for Aerial Target Detection Models.

Atmospheric path radiance in the infrared is an extremely important quantity in calculating system performance in certain infrared detection systems. For infrared search and track (IRST) system performance calculations, the path radiance competes with the target for precious detector well electrons. In addition, the radiance differential between the target and the path radiance defines the signal level that must be detected.

Detection of small targets in the infrared: an infrared search and track tutorial.

Airborne target detection in the infrared has been classically known as infrared search and track or IRST. From a military point of view, it can be described as target detection at long ranges where the target image is subpixel in size. Here, the target is "unresolved.

Design considerations for advanced MWIR target acquisition systems.

In this paper, mid-wave infrared (MWIR) sensor optimization is provided as a function of the parameter /, where is the -number, is the effective wavelength, and is the detector pitch. For diffraction limited systems, acquisition range is related to the instantaneous field of view (detector limited operation) when /<1, and to the optical properties (optics limited operation) when />2.0.