Calibration and Use of Clutter Data for Simulation

Part 1 of this report describes calibration of the radiometer for the Background Measurements and Analysis Program (BMAP). Part 2 is an article with results bearing on two-dimensional signal processing. (It was published in Applied Optics 15 Feb. 1985.) Part 3 consists of vugraphs and supplemental text for two BMAP reviews and an Optical Sciences Division colloquium. The purpose of BMAP is to collect natural infrared background data for use in simulating the performance of Infared Search and Tracks sets (IRSTs). Usually the objects sought by an IRST are effectively point sources; that is, their images are unresolved (no larger than a detector element). Thus, the point response of the BMAP sensor and electronics must be well characterized for the intended data use. The response to a bar source must also be determined in order to correct the data for certain instrumental artifacts. The BMAP instruments should also be radiometrically calibrated so that simulated signals added to the background data can be related, at least approximately, to radiances of targets.