Visible/Infrared Imaging on the Rise [In the Spotlight]

The news media recently showed how infrared imagery aided the authorities in capturing the second Boston Marathon bomber suspect, now a significant tool in the public safety arsenal [1]. It also clearly illustrates the progress in infrared hardware technology since Desert Storm in 1991. The images shown were less grainy (noisy) and had more gray scales, the result of focal plane array materials and designs. In addition, they displayed better image resolution due to larger focal plane array availability. What was not shown is the significant signal processing improvement in target detection that can be obtained from this new hardware because of its improved dynamic range and linearity. In particular, these aspects enhance our ability to image objects through optical channels that either blur or mask the object because of particulate or turbulent scattering [2]. In this article, we will highlight some of the progress in this area that takes advantage of the improvements of new visible and infrared camera systems.