Photon noise limits to the detection of closure phase for interferometric measurements of earth-orbiting satellites

Michael C. Roggemann; Matthew R. Whiteley

doi:10.1117/12.255088

25 October 1996 Photon noise limits to the detection of closure phase for interferometric measurements of earth-orbiting satellites

Michael C. Roggemann, Matthew R. Whiteley

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Proceedings Volume 2827, Digital Image Recovery and Synthesis III; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.255088
Event: SPIE's 1996 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1996, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

Michelson stellar interferometers with long baselines have been proposed as a means for obtaining high resolution images of space objects. The fringes measured in such interferometers move randomly due to atmospheric turbulence effects. To overcome turbulence effects the fringe phase at any instant is summed around groups of three or more aperture pairs to create the so-called closure phase. For small apertures, the closure phase is insensitive to atmospheric turbulence effects. However, the closure phase is corrupted by photon noise effects. In a recent paper the probability density function of the error in the closure phase estimate due to photon noise was derived as a function of the fringe visibility and light level, and evaluated. In this paper we apply this theoretical result to the practical problem of measuring the closure phases associated with an Earth orbiting satellite.

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Michael C. Roggemann and Matthew R. Whiteley "Photon noise limits to the detection of closure phase for interferometric measurements of earth-orbiting satellites", Proc. SPIE 2827, Digital Image Recovery and Synthesis III, (25 October 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.255088

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