Analysis and simulation of a synthetic aperture technique for imaging through a turbulent medium

Active imaging techniques offer the promise of improved signal-to-noise ratios for high-resolution imaging of distant objects. However, this promise has remained unfulfilled because such techniques typically require relatively high-power illumination. The proposed technique, referred to as Fourier telescopy, largely overcomes such limitations by encoding image information in the time domain, allowing very large total collector areas to be used. The basic approach combines long-baseline interferometry with phase closure to sample the object at high spatial frequency but low temporal frequency. A phase closure strategy is selected that maximizes the intermittency of transmission, further reducing illuminator power requirements. Error sources are analyzed, and simulation results are presented for imaging of remote objects. Asymptotic results are given for the lowest-order effects of atmospheric aberrations, and the limitations of the approximations are discussed. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America