Simulation of signal-to-noise ratio for the laser range-gated imaging system

Abstract

The laser active imaging system is widely used in night vision, underwater imaging, three-dimension scene imaging and other civilian applications, and the system’s detected range increase greatly comparing with the passive imaging system. In recent years, with rapid development of sensor and laser source technique, the laser range-gated imaging system is achieved based on high peak power pulsed laser and gated intensified CCD(ICCD), and it is well known for its properties such as high suppression of backscatter noise from fog and other obscurants, high resolution, long detection range and direct visualization. However, the performance of the laser range-gated imaging system is seriously affected by many factors, and the relationships between system’s Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and influence factors are not further elaborated. In this paper, the simulation of SNR for the laser range-gated imaging system is studied. The principle of the laser range-gated imaging system is shown firstly, and the range equation is derived by means of deducing laser illuminating model according to the principle of laser radar and the characters of objects and the detectors. And then, the sources of noise are analyzed by accurately modeling all noise sources in the detection system, the model of SNR for laser range-gated imaging system is established. Finally, the relationships between SNR of system and influence factors such as gating time, laser pulse width and repetition frequency are discussed, and correspondingly the solutions are proposed.