Reflective FSM microscan MWIR image super-resolution with TV-AG joint regularization.

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Optical Imaging
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Infrared imaging is crucial for aerospace, enabling reliable sensing in adverse conditions like nighttime or cloud cover.
• Current infrared imaging systems face limitations in spatial resolution due to payload constraints, power demands, and detector capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a high-resolution mid-wave infrared imaging system for commercial aerospace applications.
• To overcome the spatial resolution limitations of existing infrared imaging technologies.

Main Methods:

• A reflective microscan mechanism with a fast-steering mirror was employed for precise sub-pixel image displacements.
• A multi-frame super-resolution reconstruction method was integrated, utilizing a joint total variation (TV) and alternating gradient (AG) regularization strategy.
• An explicit degradation and downsampling model accounting for sub-pixel shifts was formulated and solved.

Main Results:

• The proposed system demonstrated enhanced spatial resolution and improved edge fidelity in infrared images.
• The joint TV-AG regularization effectively suppressed noise while preserving weak directional edges characteristic of infrared targets.
• The method successfully mitigated the impact of sub-pixel motion errors, leading to clearer imagery.

Conclusions:

• The developed high-resolution infrared imaging system offers significant practical value for compact aerospace payloads.
• The integration of reflective microscan and super-resolution reconstruction presents a viable solution for enhancing infrared imaging capabilities in aerospace.
• The approach effectively addresses key challenges in achieving high-resolution infrared imaging under demanding operational conditions.