Long range laser illuminated imaging

We demonstrate the utility of laser illuminated imaging for clandestine night time surveillance from a simulated airborne platform at standoff ranges in excess 20 km. In order to reduce the necessary laser per pulse energy required for illumination at such long ranges, and to mitigate atmospheric turbulence effects on image resolution, we have investigated a unique multiframe post-processing technique. It is shown that in the presence of atmospheric turbulence and coherent speckle effects, this approach can produce superior results to conventional scene flood illumination.