High-resolution speckle imaging through strong atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

We demonstrate that high-resolution imaging through strong atmospheric turbulence can be achieved by acquiring data with a system that captures short exposure ("speckle") images using a range of aperture sizes and then using a bootstrap multi-frame blind deconvolution restoration process that starts with the smallest aperture data. Our results suggest a potential paradigm shift in how we image through atmospheric turbulence. No longer should image acquisition and post processing be treated as two independent processes: they should be considered as intimately related.