Analysis and modeling of aerothermal radiation based on experimental data

• High-temperature radiation characteristics of infrared window were studied in depth.
• Aerothermal radiation degraded images were analyzed and modeled at multiple scales.
• The aerothermal degradation characteristic database was created.
• The image correction model can effectively improve the degraded image quality.

The effect of aerothermal radiation on the performance of an airborne infrared imaging system is becoming a crucial issue in the development of electro-optic systems. In this paper the high-temperature radiation characteristics of infrared window are studied in depth, and a multi-scale analysis model of aerothermal radiation degraded images is presented. The presented model adopted a least-squares fitting method to simulate the salient characteristics of the aerothermal radiation degraded images. The aerothermal radiation degradation characteristic database containing characterizing parameters of degraded images was created. Through optimization selection, the characterizing parameters were used to correct the degraded images in the real aerothermal environment. The experimental results show that the model is effective in the aerothermal radiation degraded image correction, and improves the quality of the aerothermal radiation degraded image.