Short-pulse range-gated optical imaging in turbid water

Using a very short laser pulse and camera gate in a range-gated optical imaging system, we have demonstrated an improvement in imaging in turbid water. A 0.5-ns FWHM laser pulse at 532 nm and a camera gate time ranging down to 120 ps were used to record images of 0.635-cm-bar-resolution targets at 6.5 attenuation lengths through 4.572 m of turbid water. With a four-channel version of this camera, coupled to a CCD camera, we can observe a quasi-three-dimensional image in real time.