Imaging and Optical Sensing in Turbulent Environments

How turbulence affects imaging and optical sensing, and the methods used to restore image quality and sensing accuracy.

• Engineers and scientists working in optical imaging and remote sensing
• Researchers studying atmospheric turbulence effects
• Graduate and postgraduate students interested in optics, sensing, and signal processing
• Professionals developing optical systems for defense, aerospace, and environmental monitoring
• Developers of optical surveillance, tracking, and guidance systems
• Academic staff involved in optics, photonics, and remote sensing research and teaching
• Companies focused on optical instrumentation and imaging technologies
• System designers looking to enhance optical sensing performance in challenging environments

• Introduction to optical turbulence and its origins
• Impact of turbulence on imaging and optical wave propagation
• Key parameters: refractive index structure parameter, coherence length, and isoplanatic angle
• Optical sensing basics under turbulent conditions
• Turbulence-induced distortions: blurring, beam wander, scintillation
• Imaging through turbulence: methods and challenges
• Wavefront sensing and adaptive optics for turbulence mitigation
• Techniques: lucky imaging, speckle imaging, phase diversity
• System design considerations for robust optical sensing
• Practical applications: defense surveillance, astronomy, environmental sensing
• Future trends: AI/ML-based turbulence mitigation, computational imaging approaches

• Copy of the presentation slides (PDF)
• Downloadable video recording of the sessions (valid for 60 days)

⚠️ Important: The video is licensed for personal use only. Redistribution, sharing, or public posting of the course video is strictly prohibited.

* Session 1 (2.5 hours): Fundamentals of Turbulence Effects on Optical Systems and Imaging Performance * Session 2 (2.5 hours): Sensing Techniques, Mitigation Strategies, and Future Trends