An Analysis Of Nonlinear Broadband Transmissometer System Response

Broadband multispectral transmissometer systems operating in the visual through 14-μm band of the electromagnetic spectrum are carefully designed radiometers having narrow fields of view aimed toward temporally modulated sources. However, our analysis of transmissometer field test data has shown evidence that nonlinear system responses can often occur. In this paper, we present an analysis of the effects of nonlinear detector response on broadband transmissometer system response. Our results show, for example, that when the system detector responds nonlinearly, the transmittance data show effects due to background radiation that cannot be removed by presently used signal processing techniques. With the analysis, examples of broadband multispectral transmittance data are evaluated and characteristic features of data indicating evidence of nonlinear system response are identified.© (1989) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.