Studies on laser range-gated imaging

Abstract

Gated viewing refers to the principle of time controlling a camera with respect to a pulsed illuminating source. This technique was studied for night photography in reconnaissance applications before the thermal IR techniques were widely adopted. In the early days pulsed xenon lamps were used and they were then replaced by lasers. Today there seem to be a somewhat renewed interest for gated viewing both for underwater and atmospheric applications. This is due to the development on both the laser and the camera side. Powerful diode pumped lasers and camera tubes with higher spatial and time resolution will make this technique and interesting complement to passive EO-imaging.