3D correlation imaging for localized phase disturbance mitigation

TL;DR

This paper proposes a correlation light-field imaging method to mitigate localized phase disturbances caused by turbulence, preserving resolution and improving imaging robustness in turbulent media.

Contribution

It introduces a novel correlation plenoptic imaging technique that specifically addresses localized phase disturbances, merging light-field and correlation imaging for turbulence mitigation.

Findings

Effective turbulence mitigation without resolution loss

Preservation of spatial resolution in turbulent conditions

Potential for improved imaging in turbulent environments

Abstract

Correlation plenoptic imaging is a procedure to perform light-field imaging without spatial resolution loss, by measuring second-order spatio-temporal correlations of light. We investigate the possibility to use correlation plenoptic imaging to mitigate the effect of a phase disturbance in the propagation from the object to the main lens. We assume that this detrimental effect, that can be due to a turbulent medium, is localized at a specific distance from the lens, and is slowly varying in time. The mitigation of turbulence effects has already fostered the development of both light-field imaging and correlation imaging procedures. Here, we aim at merging these aspects, proposing a correlation light-field imaging method to overcome the effects of slowly varying turbulence, without the loss of lateral resolution, typical of traditional plenoptic imaging devices.