Application of a figure-of-merit for optical remote sensors to an airborne hyperspectral sensor

Airborne surveillance presents challenging target-detection opportunities for optical remote sensors, especially under the constraints of size, weight, and power imposed by small aircraft. We present a spatial-frequency dependent figure-of-merit, called the Detector Quantum Efficiency (DQE), by first tracing its origins in single pixel photon multiplication detectors, where it is shown to be yield (quantum efficiency or QE) divided by the noise factor. We then show the relationship of DQE to several well-known figures-of-merit. Finally we broaden the definition of DQE to include the spatial-frequency dependence on the MTF of the system and the noise power spectrum (NPS) of the detector. We then present the results of the application of this DQE to a hyperspectral camera under development at BAE Systems Spectral Solutions LLC.