Signal-to-noise performance analysis of streak tube imaging lidar systems. II. Theoretical analysis and discussion

In the preceding paper (referred to here as paper I), we presented a general signal-to-noise performance analysis of a streak tube imaging lidar (STIL) system within the framework of linear cascaded systems theory. A cascaded model is proposed for characterizing the signal-to-noise performance of a STIL system with an internal or external intensified streak tube receiver. The STIL system can be decomposed into a series of cascaded imaging chains whose signal and noise transfer properties are described by the general (or the spatial-frequency dependent) noise factors (NFs). Equations for the general NFs of the cascaded chains (or the main components) in the STIL system are derived. This work investigates the signal-to-noise performance of an external intensified STIL system. The implementation of the cascaded model for predicting and evaluating the signal-to-noise performance of the external intensified STIL system is described. Some factors that limit the signal-to-noise performance of the external intensified STIL system are analyzed and discussed.