Detection and imaging of distant targets by near-infrared polarization single-pixel lidar

Single-pixel imaging (SPI) is a new technology with many applications and prospects. Polarization detection technology can improve the detection and identification ability of the imaging system. A near-infrared polarization SPI lidar system is designed to realize detection and polarization imaging of outdoor long-range targets. The depth, intensity, linear polarization, and polarization degree images of typical remote targets are obtained. The results show that the polarization image contains many details and contour information of the target, and the intensity image contains brightness and reflectivity information. Intensity and polarization information complement each other. The characteristics of intensity and polarization images at different spatial frequencies are analyzed for the first time, to our knowledge, by taking advantage of the Fourier modulation mode. We found that the proportion of high-frequency information in the polarization image is much higher than that of the intensity image. The sampling strategy of collecting only low-frequency components is applicable in intensity imaging but needs further improvement in polarization imaging. The polarization SPI lidar system can enrich the target information acquired, improve imaging contrast, and have significant application value for target detection and identification in complex backgrounds.