Time characteristics of aero-optical imaging degeneration of the ellipsoidal dome under variable operating conditions

Abstract

As a missile flies at high speed, the index and surface shape of the conformal dome will vary under the influence of the aero-optical effect, which will degenerate the performance of the seeker’s imaging detection system. However, many previous studies on aero-optical imaging deterioration of optical domes were usually carried out under fixed operating conditions, which are not in line with the real flight scene of the missile. In addition, the aero-optical imaging degeneration of the dome is diverse as the flight time increases. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the time characteristics of aero-optical imaging degradation of optical domes under variable work conditions. In this study, taking an air-to-air missile as an example, the Zernike polynomials, wavefront aberration, Strehl ratio, and image simulation are applied to evaluate the aero-optical imaging deterioration of an ellipsoidal dome in the flight time range of 0–10 s under variable working conditions. The simulation results show that, as the flight time increases, (1) the dynamic range of tilt, defocus, astigmatism, coma, and wavefront aberration increase; and (2) the Strehl ratio and the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of the simulated images decrease. Therefore, the influence of flight time on the aero-optical image degradation of the ellipsoidal dome gradually becomes more serious.