Ghost imaging lidar via sparsity constraints

For remote sensing, high-resolution imaging techniques are helpful to catch more characteristic information of the target. We extend pseudo-thermal light ghost imaging to the area of remote imaging and propose a ghost imaging lidar system. The experimental results demonstrate that the real-space image of a target at about 1.0 km range with 20 mm resolution is achieved by ghost imaging via sparsity constraints (GISC) technique. The characters of GISC technique compared to the existing lidar systems are also discussed. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4757874]