Approach to three-dimensional noise spectral analysis

The 3-dimensional noise model developed by D'Agostino and Webb is rapidly becoming the standard metric used to characterize the temporal and spatial noise present in modern day FLIR imagery. This model separates the noise components into seven directionally dependent noise terms. These terms are isolated into spatial and temporal components dependent on their directional characteristics. A value in units of temperature is determined for each component. This approach gives substantial insight into the workings of the sensor and its nonuniformity correction capabilities. Without knowledge of the spectrum of each of these components though, the impact of each on the minimum resolvable temperature difference (MRTD) results may be misinterpreted or misconstrued. Knowledge of the spectrum of the 3-D noise is also imperative when the 3-D noise model is used as the basis for noise generation in sensor simulation algorithms. This paper presents a method of obtaining 3-D noise spectrum for each of the seven noise components by first isolating each noise term. Once the individual noise component frames have been isolated, the spectrum of that component is determined. The determination of the noise spectra of each of the components is then discussed. Sample 3-D noise spectrum data are presented.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.