This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 10403 including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

According to the development and application needs of Remote Sensing Science and technology, Prof. Siwen Bi proposed quantum remote sensing. Firstly, the paper gives a brief introduction of the background of quantum remote sensing, the research status and related researches at home and abroad on the theory, information mechanism and imaging experiments of quantum remote sensing and the production of principle prototype.Then, the quantization of pure remote sensing radiation field, the state function and squeezing effect of quantum remote sensing radiation field are emphasized. It also describes the squeezing optical operator of quantum light field in active imaging information transmission experiment and imaging experiments, achieving 2-3 times higher resolution than that of coherent light detection imaging and completing the production of quantum remote sensing imaging prototype. The application of quantum remote sensing technology can significantly improve both the signal-to-noise ratio of information transmission imaging and the spatial resolution of quantum remote sensing .On the above basis, Prof.Bi proposed the technical solution of active imaging information transmission technology of satellite borne quantum remote sensing, launched researches on its system composition and operation principle and on quantum noiseless amplifying devices, providing solutions and technical basis for implementing active imaging information technology of satellite borne Quantum Remote Sensing.

Interband Cascade Lasers (ICLs) are semiconductor laser sources emitting photons in the mid-infrared wavelength region. In the GaSb material system, ICLs cover the ~2.7 µm to ~5.6 µm wavelength range operating in continuous wave mode. In this spectral region, the low power consumption of ICLs is unrivaled compared to diode lasers and quantum cascade lasers emitting in this region. Many important gases like hydrocarbons have strong absorption lines in this wavelength region. ICLs are therefore suitable for gas sensing applications like tunable laser absorption spectroscopy (TLAS) for the detection of various gases. ICLs combine the cascading of active stages from quantum cascade lasers with interband transitions of diode lasers enabled by the semimetallic interface between InAs and GaSb. Beyond 5.6 μm important gases like nitrogen oxides have strong absorption lines making long wavelength GaSb ICLs interesting. We show the realization of long wavelength emitting ICLs optimized by reducing the number of electron injector quantum wells and improving doping in the active region, increasing thicknesses of the separate confinement layer and cladding layer. The devices emit at 5.72 μm and 6.00 μm, with pulsed mode characteristic temperatures of 47 K and threshold current densities of 1194 A/cm² and 778 A/cm² with voltage drops of 1.29 V and 1.33 V respectively.

We present antimonide-based resonant tunneling photodetectors with GaSb/AlAsSb double barrier structures and pseudomorphically grown prewell emitter structures comprising the ternary compound semiconductors GaInSb and GaAsSb. Due to the incorporation of GaInSb and GaAsSb prewell emitters, room temperature resonant tunneling with peak-to-valley current ratios of up to 2.4 are shown. The room temperature operation is attributed to the enhanced Γ-Lvalley energy separation and consequently a re-population of the Γ-conduction band of the ternary compound emitter prewell with respect to bulk GaSb. By integration of a quaternary absorption layer, RTDs photodetectors with cut-off wavelengths up to 3 μm have been realized.

The recent development of interband cascade lasers (ICLs) and quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) based trace gas sensors enables the targeting of strong fundamental rotational-vibrational transitions in the mid-infrared, which are one to two orders of magnitude more intense than transitions in the near-infrared. This has led to the development of mid-infrared compact, field deployable sensors based on two sensor system platforms, laser absorption and quartz enhanced spectroscopy. These sensor platforms are applicable for environmental monitoring, atmospheric chemistry and for use in the petrochemical industry. The spectroscopic detection and monitoring of three molecular species, methane (CH₄), ethane (C₂H₆) [1], formaldehyde (H₂CO) [2] and hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) [3] will be described.

The mid infrared spectral range (MIR) is of great interest for a variety of industrial, medical and environmental applications since numerous molecules have strong absorption lines therein. Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) have the ability to cover the entire MIR almost independently from the bandgap of the utilized semiconductors. Combined with a DFB technology which is applicable for most kinds of interband transition based semiconductor lasers the spectral range between 2.8 and 5.9 μm could be covered with application grade single mode devices with low power consumption. Recent optimizations regarding the layer design as well as the device processing yielded DFB laser chips with improved performance that will pave the way for a variety of applications that benefit from reasonable output power.

The next generation infrared (IR) detection technology demands for very-large-format focal plane arrays (FPAs) with high performance. Semiconductor up-converters can convert IR photons to near-infrared (NIR) photons, and can be potential candidates for large-format IR imaging since the mechanical bonding with the read-out circuits can be avoided. However, previously reported up-converters and corresponding up-conversion systems suffer from low detectivity because of the trade-off between responsivity and dark current. To solve this issue, a cascade infrared up-converter (CIUP) is demonstrated in this work. Based on a quantum cascade transport mechanism, high IR responsivity is achieved while the dark current is maintained fairly low. A 4-μm InGaAs/AlGaAs CIUP has been fabricated, and both the CIUP and up-conversion system are under background-limited infrared performance (BLIP) regime below 120 K. The upconversion efficiency is 2.1 mW/W at 3.3 V and 78 K. Taking shot noise as the main noise in the up-conversion system, the BLIP detectivity of the system is 2.4×10⁹ Jones at 3.3 V and 78 K, higher than the semiconductor up-converters at similar wavelengths reported so far. To further improve the CIUP performance, an AlInP hole-blocking layer is introduced taking place of the AlAs layer. AlInP/GaAs has larger valence band discontinuity than AlAs/GaAs, showing the advantage of tightly confining injected holes into the emission quantum well. By adopting the AlInP hole-blocking layer, the quantum efficiency and detectivity of the up-conversion system can be enhanced.

Future infrared remote sensing systems, such as monitoring of the Earth’s environment by satellites, infrastructure inspection by unmanned airborne vehicles etc., will require 16 bit depth infrared images to be compressed and stored or transmitted for further analysis. Such systems are equipped with low power embedded platforms where image or video data is compressed by a hardware block called the video processing unit (VPU). However, in many cases using two 8-bit VPUs can provide advantages compared with using higher bit depth image compression directly. We propose to compress 16 bit depth images via 8 bit depth codecs in the following way. First, an input 16 bit depth image is mapped into 8 bit depth images, e.g., the first image contains only the most significant bytes (MSB image) and the second one contains only the least significant bytes (LSB image). Then each image is compressed by an image or video codec with 8 bits per pixel input format. We analyze how the compression parameters for both MSB and LSB images should be chosen to provide the maximum objective quality for a given compression ratio. Finally, we apply the proposed infrared image compression method utilizing JPEG and H.264/AVC codecs, which are usually available in efficient implementations, and compare their rate-distortion performance with JPEG2000, JPEG-XT and H.265/HEVC codecs supporting direct compression of infrared images in 16 bit depth format. A preliminary result shows that two 8 bit H.264/AVC codecs can achieve similar result as 16 bit HEVC codec.

We report on observations of low level noise and modulation in natural sky light and in sunlit scenes. Data were taken with various clear sky and partly cloudy conditions of the sky itself, as a function of altitude and angular resolution, and of naturally illuminated scenes. Different optical and sensor configurations were employed to explore the contributions of natural signal fluctuation to the remote sensing of vibrations through modulation of optical and near infrared diffusely scattered light and temporal imaging of partially resolved high contrast features. Low noise InGaAs high dynamic range photodiodes and cameras, and silicon image sensors were used with real time and post-processing to identify the noise floor, and to establish practical limits on light level and viewing distance in the use of these methods for remote structural health and vibration monitoring.

Mn-Co-Ni-O (MCNO) flexible thermistors are fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate or polyimide sheets by RF magnetron sputtering method at room temperature. The whole fabricating processes is completed at room temperature. The temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) is -3.1% and resistivity as low as 110Ωcm at 295K. The bendingstraightening cycle test indicates the flexible MCNO sheet is stable. The temperature sensing test shows the thermistors respond to temperature change rapidly and sensitively. Due to the heat-treat free process, high TCR and moderate resistivity features, the technique we provide here allows a convenient and low cost industrial manufacture of high performance flexible thermistors and wide band infrared detectors.

We investigated a nanoantenna integrated thermomechanical infrared pixel based on bi-material nanobeam. Three bilayer configurations are numerically studied and optimized towards maximum thermomechanical deflection. The integrated optical nanoantennae are geometrically tuned to reach the highest optical absorption at 6 μm. Thermal time constants and fundamental noise equivalent powers of the three bilayer configurations are also calculated. We also discuss the potential implementation of our detector as an infrared polarimetric sensor.

Tropical deep convective clouds (DCCs) are thick, bright, cold, and their reflectance is considered stable. Thus, DCCs can be used to calibrate visible/near infrared (VNIR) channels of satellite instruments. Previous studies report how DCCs are identified by providing specific brightness temperature thresholds and are used for calibration purpose as an invariant target for solar channels. On 19 November 2016, the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) was successfully launched and became GOES-16 after it reached the geostationary orbit on 29 November 2016. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument on-board GOES-16 has 16 multi-spectral bands (0.47 - 13.3 μm) which have more accurate and frequent radiometric calibration information than previous GOES satellite series. Assessment and monitoring of the GOES-16 ABI VNIR channels calibration using DCC method is a main objective of this study. The target region is a 20°N-20°S and 119.5°W-59.5°W centered on the GOES-16 ABI check-out spatial domain (at 0.0°N, 89.5°W). This work is expected to provide useful information regarding the ABI radiometric calibration stability and such calibration stability of the ABI VNIR channels will be compared the results with other methods (e.g., ray-matching and desert) in the near future.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) has been continuously observing the Earth with global coverage twice daily in the longwave infrared channels since January 20, 2012. These channels are primarily used for cloud detection, and for retrieving sea surface temperatures globally, as well as a number of other applications. The VIIRS sensor data records (SDR), aka level 1b data, have been shown to be accurate and stable at 0.1K level since the data reached validated maturity on March 18, 2014. However, during the scheduled quarterly warm-up/cool-down of the onboard blackbody calibration source, a calibration bias on the order of 0.1 K is introduced. The bias is further amplified by the sea surface temperature (SST) retrieval algorithm up to 0.3 K which causes an apparent spike in the SST product time series. Our previous study [1] reveals that this bias is likely caused by a fundamental assumption on the radiometric traceability of the VIIRS calibration equation, pertaining to the shape of the calibration curve. In this study, we further analyzed the equation and presented an improved correction algorithm known as Ltrace 2. This algorithm attempts to fundamentally reconcile the calibration curve shape assumption such that the calibration bias can be removed during the WUCD with better performance for all bands. Sample test results are presented to show the improvements using this algorithm.

Imaging the thermal changes in a scene at the millikelvin level reveals a fascinating world that we normally cannot see. Wind passing over the ground produces dynamic thermal striations that indicate the wind direction and speed. Trace quantities of infrared gases passing across the field of view create subtle thermal dynamics patterns that can be used to detect gas leaks. Combining these two effects, we show that the thermal signatures induced by air turbulence create a fundamental lower limit on the ability to detect trace gases with infrared imaging, independent of measurement noise.

Accurate characterization of the Earth’s radiant energy is critical for many climate monitoring and weather forecasting applications. For example, groups at the NASA Langley Research Center rely on stable visible- and infraredchannel calibrations in order to understand the temporal/spatial distribution of hazardous storms, as determined from an automated overshooting convective top detection algorithm. Therefore, in order to facilitate reliable, climate-quality retrievals, it is important that consistent calibration coefficients across satellite platforms are made available to the remote sensing community, and that calibration anomalies are recognized and mitigated. One such anomaly is the infrared imager brightness temperature (BT) drift that occurs for some Geostationary Earth Orbit satellite (GEOsat) instruments near local midnight. Currently the Global Space-Based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) community uses the hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) sensor as a common reference to uniformly calibrate GEOsat IR imagers. However, the combination of IASI, which has a 21:30 local equator crossing time (LECT), and hyperspectral Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS; 01:30 LECT) observations are unable to completely resolve the GEOsat midnight BT bias. The precessing orbit of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS), however, allows sampling of all local hours every 46 days. Thus, VIRS has the capability to quantify the BT midnight effect observed in concurrent GEOsat imagers. First, the VIRS IR measurements are evaluated for long-term temporal stability between 2002 and 2012 by inter-calibrating with Aqua-MODIS. Second, the VIRS IR measurements are assessed for diurnal stability by inter-calibrating with Meteosat-9 (Met-9), a spin-stabilized GEOsat imager that does not manifest any diurnal dependency. In this case, the Met-9 IR imager is first adjusted with the official GSICS calibration coefficients. Then VIRS is used as a diurnal calibration reference transfer to produce hourly corrections of GEOsat IR imager BT. For the 9 three-axis stabilized GEO imagers concurrent with VIRS, the midnight effect increased the BT on average by 0.5 K (11 μm) and 0.4 K (12 μm), with a peak at ~01:00 local time. As expected, the spin-stabilized GEOsats revealed a smaller diurnal temperature cycle (mostly < 0.2 K) with inconsistent peak hours.

In September 2016 the Rosetta space probe landed on comet 67P introducing the end of its active mission phase. During more than two years of operation the Rosetta orbiter along with its lander module acquired manifold data escorting the comet during its journey through the solar system. This paper gives an overview about some of the key achievements of the mission. It summarizes outstanding results with a focus on the cometary surface, and discusses prospects for cometary science.

The Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) is the first flight instrument specially designed with a sole focus on mapping the surface of Venus using the narrow atmospheric windows around 1μm. VEM will provide a global map of surface composition as well as redox state of the surface, providing a comprehensive picture of surface-atmosphere interaction on Venus. In addition, continuous observation of the thermal emission of the Venus will provide tight constraints on current day volcanic activity. These capabilities are complemented by measurements of atmospheric water vapor abundance as well as cloud microphysics and dynamic. Atmospheric data will allow for the accurate correction of atmospheric interference on the surface measurements and represent highly valuable science on their own. A mission combining VEM with a high-resolution radar mapper such as the NASA VOX or the ESA EnVision mission proposals in a low circular orbit will provide key insights in the divergent evolution of Venus.

Fourier-spectrometer TIRVIM is a part of ACS spectral complex aboard Mars-Express orbiter spacecraft. TIRVIM spectral range is 2–16 micron. It can operate as a spectrometer – with the Sun as a standard radiation source (“occultation” mode) or as a spectro-radiometer (“nadir” mode). In occultation mode the spectral resolution is 0.2 cm-1, in nadir mode – 1.3 cm-1. The main scientific objective of the occultation mode is to search for atmosphere minor constituents, of the nadir mode – to monitor the Mars atmosphere vertical thermal profile (by 15-micron CO2 band). The occultation mode is self-calibrated. For absolute calibration in the nadir mode TIRVIM has a rotating inlet flat mirror (single-axis foreoptic) able to point the FOV (2º) to nadir, space, built-in black-body or to another direction in the plane. TIRVIM mass is 12 kg, the power consumption is 15 W.

Current object tracking implementations utilize different feature extraction techniques to obtain salient features to track objects of interest which change in different types of imaging modalities and environmental conditions.nChallenges in infrared imagery for object tracking include object deformation, occlusion, background variations, and smearing, which demands high performance algorithms. We propose the directional ringlet intensity feature transform to encompass significant levels of detail while being able to track low resolution targets. The algorithm utilizes a weighted circularly partitioned histogram distribution method which outperforms regular histogram distribution matching by localizing information and utilizing the rotation invariance of the circular rings. The image also utilizes directional edge information created by a Frei-Chen edge detector to improve the ability of the algorithm in different lighting conditions. We find the matching features using a weighted Earth Movers Distance (EMD), which results in the specific location of the target object. The algorithm is fused with image registration, motion detection from background subtraction and motion estimation from Kalman filtering to create robustness from camera jitter and occlusions. It is found that the DRIFT algorithm performs very well under different operating conditions in IR imagery and yields better results as compared to other state-of-the-art feature based object trackers. The testing is done on two IR databases, a collected database of vehicle and pedestrian sequences and the Visual Object Tracking (VOT) IR database.

Many applications in infrastructure planning and maintenance are currently aided by the collection of aerial image data and manual examination by human analysts. The increasing availability and quality of this image data presents an opportunity for computer vision and machine learning techniques to aid in infrastructure planning and maintenance. Due to the immense effort required for human analysts to view and organize the data, there is great demand for computer automation of these tasks. A strategy for detecting changes in known building regions in multi-temporal visible and near-infrared imagery based on a linear combination of independent features and a difference of Gaussian based classification approach is being developed. Initial building candidates are discovered using a linear combination of features representing vegetation intensity, image texture, shadow intensity and distance from known road areas. The resulting building candidates are classified by shape using a unique difference of Gaussians technique and a standard Support Vector Machine classifier. Building regions reported in the reference data set from the prior observation time are revisited using the same classification approach to minimize the number of false positive detections from the feature fusion strategy. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is evaluated on five wide area real-world images. Ground truths for the building regions in all five images are manually created and used to measure the accuracy of the building detection and change detection results. Detection statistics and visualized results of the proposed algorithm are presented, and it is observed that the results are promising compared to the manually created ground truth.

Evaluating the performance of infrared (IR) flare as an active countermeasure, the similarity between an actual signal of flare and emission of an aircraft exhaust plume is important. In order to predict the actual signal of flame, exact knowledge of theoretical modeling of the flare spectrum considering realistic measurement environment is required. In this study, we conduct a line-by-line modeling of IR flare. We calculate the spectral line parameters of IR flare using high-temperature molecular spectroscopic database (HITEMP) and chemical parameters using ICT thermodynamic code in thermodynamic equilibrium condition. We consider a collisional broadening of the spectral lines under atmospheric pressure, and instrument function of spectrometer. Also, we apply an atmospheric transmission with varying altitudes, measurement angles, and humidity based on moderate resolution atmospheric transmission database (MODTRAN). Finally, we verify our modeling of IR flare by comparing with experimental results. The normalized RMS deviation between the measured and modeled data is calculated to be about 6.7%. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the Low Observable Technology Research Center program of Agency for Defense Development (ADD).

The hyperspectral image in thermal infrared domains provide information, such as temperature and emissivity, about different kinds of materials. These information can be used for a wide number of applications such as mineral mapping, bathymetry, indoor and outdoor detection of chemicals. But because of the limitation of spatial resolution and the characteristics of thermal infrared sensor, there are many mixed pixels in the data, whose temperature，emissivity and abundance of different components can be hard to estimate. In this paper, a new method to estimate the parameters in pure and mixed pixels is proposed based on linear and nonlinear optimization. Firstly, the standard temperature and emissivity separation (TES) algorithm is applied on pure pixels of different materials selected by supervise or unsupervised methods to get the initial temperature. Secondly, the emissivity in different bands can be retrieved by minimizing the reconstruction error, which the more accurate temperature is optimized with. The emissivity in one band is trained by the samples in the same band but in different pixels, while the temperature is trained by different bands in one pixel. Lastly, the abundance and temperature of components in mixed pixels are estimated based on a linear mixture model of the bottom of atmosphere radiance as full constraint linear optimization problem and nonlinear optimization problem. The method is also analyzed with respect to sensitivity to the noise and different parameters’ influences on estimation errors.

Sentinel-5 is an Earth Observation instrument to be flown on the Metop Second Generation (Metop-SG) satellites with the fundamental objective of monitoring atmospheric composition from polar orbit. The Sentinel-5 instrument consists of five spectrometers to measure the solar spectral radiance backscattered by the earth atmosphere in five bands within the UV (270nm) to SWIR (2385nm) spectral range. Data provided by Sentinel-5 will allow obtaining the distribution of important atmospheric constituents such as ozone, on a global daily basis and at a finer spatial resolution than its precursor instruments on the first generation of Metop satellites. The launch of the first Metop-SG satellite is foreseen for 2021. The Sentinel-5 instrument is being developed by Airbus DS under contract to the European Space Agency. The Sentinel-5 mission is part of the Space Component of the Copernicus programme, a joint initiative by ESA, EUMETSAT and the European Commission. The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Sentinel-5 development was successfully completed in 2015. This paper provides a description of the Sentinel-5 instrument design and data calibration.

We describe the simulation results of a novel method of optical tissue diagnostics employing ballistic photons. They are selected by detecting them in an interferometric setup, further using heterodyning to increase the signal size. Three strategically placed apertures select the beam diameter for spatial resolution in scanning, and the angle within which the partially scattered photons might be collected. We model inclusion inside a bone-like object as a tree-layer tissue that includes the skin, the muscle, and the bone.

Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, which may act as cold traps for volatiles. To this end, a multi-band reflectometer will be sent to orbit the Moon. This instrument consists of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers, each of which emits sequentially at a different wavelength in the near-infrared between 1 μm and 2 μm. The receiver measures the laser light reflected from the lunar surface; continuum/absorption band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice in the illuminated spot. Here, we present the current state of the optical receiver design. To optimize the optical signal-to-noise ratio, we have designed the receiver so as to maximize the laser signal collected, while minimizing the stray light reaching the detector from solarilluminated areas of the lunar surface outside the field-of-view, taking into account the complex lunar topography. Characterization plans are also discussed. This highly mass- and volume-constrained mission will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first CubeSats performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit.

We review the recent progresses on the developments of a plasmonic terahertz (THz) detector and a millimeter-wave (MMW) photonic double-mixer using InP-based and/or graphene-based field effect transistors (FETs). We experimentally demonstrated the ultra-high internal responsivity of the InP-based high-electron mobility FET (HEMT) detector featured by the asymmetric dual-grating-gate structure and examined the improvement of the external responsivity by the Si-lens integration and by the array configuration. For photonic double-mixing, we experimentally verified the frequency down-conversion of an optical data signal to an IF data signal, and showed the intrinsic doublemixing performance of a G-FET exceeding that of an InP-HEMT. We also address a possibility of photonic doublemixing in the THz frequencies.

We will summarize the progress made on investigation of coupled optical parametric oscillators using a single pair of nonlinear-optical crystals forming the twins. A single signal is split into signal twins whereas a single idler is split into two idler twins. Such twins are ultra-stable since their frequency difference is insensitive to the change of the pump wavelength and temperature fluctuation. It exhibits the inverse proportionality of the frequency separation on the length of each of the crystals and difference of the group indices of the signal and idler waves. What is unique about such coupled optical parametric oscillators lies in the fact that the frequency separation can be scaled to a few 100 GHz from a few THz by using just a single pair of the twins. Such a significant reduction opens up novel applications of such coupled optical parametric oscillators in remote sensing by heterodyning the output beams generated by the ultrastable twins in a photodiode.

We examine the mechanisms of pulse propagation inside tissue to determine the spectral intervals wherein the pulse might propagate to an occlusion and reflect from its boundary. We derive analytical expression, showing that the depth of occlusion may be determined upon measuring the time during which the input temperature pulse travels to the inclusion, is reflected from it, and returns to the front of the skin surface. Additionally, we derive the speed of pulse propagation from diffusivity and material time constants. These quantities are calculated from the published tissue parameters; they could also be calibrated for specific classes of the biological samples. For breast tissue monitoring, we propose to use near IR laser pulses.

DNA sequences in human genome can be divided into the coding and noncoding ones. Coding sequences are those that are read during the transcription. The identification of coding sequences has been widely reported in literature due to its much-studied periodicity. Noncoding sequences represent the majority of the human genome. They play an important role in gene regulation and differentiation among the cells. However, noncoding sequences do not exhibit periodicities that correlate to their functions. The ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA elements) and Epigenomic Roadmap Project projects have cataloged the human noncoding sequences into specific functions. We study characteristics of noncoding sequences with wavelet analysis of genomic signals.

La Primavera forest is the main climate regulator in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the second most populated megalopolis in Mexico with approximately 4.4 million people. This forest area has been a focus of fires in the last decade and it is deteriorating the quality of life of the inhabitants. Leaves from the endemic forest provide information about their biochemical composition and physiology. This information is enclosed in the spectral range of the visible band to the middle infrared (400 nm at 2500 nm). In this paper we examine the reflectance of six endemic species leaves of La Primavera forest, considering the measurement in fresh and dry samples. Measurements will be obtained with a Vis-NIR spectrometer that uses a calibrated light source. A formal collection of the optical properties of tree leaves in La Primavera forest does not exist, but it is important to classify about the type of vegetation in the area. In addition, it will provide information to generate vegetation inventories, provide data to the forest fire prevention systems, pest control and erosion in the area.

Shearing interferometers measure small angular variations such as the angle between a star and a planet measured from the Earth. The detected intensity pattern usually presents few fringes or less, often just a fraction of a fringe that may be interpreted as a misalignment error. Exact alignment is a challenge in the calibration of an interferometer. The optical components frequently introduce tilt making it very difficult to retrieve the phase. Spatial light modulators (SLM) are traditionally used to shift the phase to compensate small amounts of tilt, improving the accuracy of the phase measurement. We implement a phase retrieving algorithm to evaluate the accuracy of the phase shifter based on a SLM in a vectorial shearing interferometer (VSI). Our VSI is based on a Mach-Zehnder configuration. With the SLM we are able to compensate the phase error due to the alignment and the fabrication errors. Our results also demonstrate that we may correct error in the OPD and the magnitude of the tilt in the observation plane.

We present a novel interferometer that we call the differential shearing interferometer (DSI). It incorporates a set of Risley prisms in a Sagnac interferometric configuration. The Risley prisms deviates the beam in both propagation directions. This interferometer interferes two beams displaced in the same direction, but with different magnitudes. The resultant interferogram is the directional derivative of the wavefront. The interferometer sensitivity depends on the difference between the beam deviations. This deviation is controlled by the position of the Risley prisms inside the beam path and their angular orientations. The advantages of quasi-common-path configuration include its low sensitivity to vibrations.

In this work forward and inverse solutions for two-element Risley prism for pointing and scanning beam systems are developed. A more efficient and faster algorithm is proposed to make an analogy of the Risley prism system compared with a robotic system with two degrees of freedom. This system of equations controls each Risley prism individually as a planar manipulator arm of two links. In order to evaluate the algorithm we implement it in a pointing system. We perform popular routines such as the linear, spiral and loops traces. Using forward and inverse solutions for two-element Risley prism it is also possible to point at coordinates specified by the user, provided they are within the pointer area of work area. Experimental results are showed as a validation of our proposal.

Three-dimensional shape profiling by sinusoidal phase-shifting methods is affected by the non-linearity of the projector. To overcome this problem, the defocused projection of binary patterns has become an important alternative to generate sinusoidal fringe patterns. In this paper, we present an efficient technique to generate binary fringe patterns where we use the symmetry and periodicity properties of binary-coded sinusoidal intensity. This reduces the search-space for the optimization problem. The patterns are projected out-of-focus to generate quasi-sinusoidal patterns, which can be used together with a phase-shifting algorithm to retrieve 3-D shape measurements. Simulations and experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed scheme.

In this work, we propose a novel technique to retrieve the 3D shape of dynamic objects by the simultaneous projection of a fringe pattern and a homogeneous white light pattern that are both coded in an RGB image. The first one is used to retrieve the phase-map by an iterative least-squares method. The last one is used to match pixels from the object in consecutive images, which are acquired at various positions. The proposal successfully full fills the requirement of projecting different frequency fringes. One extracts the object’s information and the other retrieves the phase-map. Experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed scheme.

A laser shock wave is a mechanical high-pressure impulse with a duration of a few nanoseconds induced by a high power laser pulse. We performed wave pressure measurements in order to build and check mathematical models. They are used for wave applications in material science, health, and defense, to list a few. Piezoresistive methods have been shown to be highly sensitive, linear, and highly appropriate for practical implementation, compared with piezoelectric methods employed in shock wave pressure measurements. In this work, we develop a novel method to obtain the sensitivity of a piezoresistive measurement system. The results shows that it is possible to use a mechanical method to measure pressure of a laser induced shock wave in nanosecond range. Experimental pressure measurements are presented.

DNA sequences in human genome can be divided into the coding and noncoding ones. We hypothesize that the characteristic periodicities of the noncoding sequences are related to their function. We describe the procedure to identify these characteristic periodicities using the wavelet analysis. Our results show that three groups of noncoding sequences, each one with different biological function, may be differentiated by their wavelet coefficients within specific frequency range.