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Night Vision Technology

Introduction

Night vision is used to locate an object which is 200 yards away even in moonless, cloudy night Night vision can work into two different ways, depending on the technology used They are image enhancement and thermal imaging. Image enhancement works by collecting lower portion of infrared light spectrum Thermal imaging operates by capturing the upper portion of the infrared light spectrum

Image enhancement

This works by collecting the tiny amounts of light, including the lower portion of the infrared light spectrum, that are present but may be imperceptible to our eyes, and amplifying it to the point that we can easily observe the image

Thermal imaging

This technology operates by capturing the upper portion of the infrared light spectrum, which is emitted as heat by objects instead of simply reflected as light. Hotter objects, such as warm bodies, emit more of this light than cooler objects like trees or buildings

The Basics

In order to understand night vision, it is important to understand something about light The amount of energy in a light wave is related to its wavelength: Shorter wavelengths have higher energy Of visible light, violet has the most energy, and red has the least. Just next to the visible light spectrum is the infrared spectrum

Infrared light can be split into three categories

Near-infrared (near-IR) - Closest to visible light, near-IR has wavelengths that range from 0.7 to 1.3 microns, or 700 billionths to 1,300 billionths of a meter Mid-infrared (mid-IR) - Mid-IR has wavelengths ranging from 1.3 to 3 microns. Both near-IR and mid-IR are used by a variety of electronic devices, including remote controls Thermal-infrared (thermal-IR) - Occupying the largest part of the infrared spectrum, thermal-IR has wavelengths ranging from 3 microns to over 30 microns

Thermal Imaging

Thermal imaging works as

A special lens focuses the infrared light emitted by all of the objects in view The focused light is scanned by a phased array of infrareddetector elements. The detector elements create a very detailed temperature pattern called a thermogram

The thermogram created by the detector elements is translated into electric impulses
The impulses are sent to a signal-processing unit, a circuit board with a dedicated chip that translates the information from the elements into data for the display The signal-processing unit sends the information to the display, where it appears as various colors depending on the intensity of the infrared emission. The combination of all the impulses from all of the elements creates the image

The basic components of a thermal-imaging system

Types of Thermal Imaging Devices

Un-cooled Cryogenically cooled

Image Enhancement

How Image Enhancement Works

A conventional lens, called the objective lens captures ambient light and some near-infrared light

The gathered light is sent to the image-intensifier tube. In most NVDs, the power supply for the image-intensifier tube receives power from two N-Cell or two "AA" batteries. The tube outputs a high voltage, about 5,000 volts, to the image-tube components
The image-intensifier tube has a photo cathode, which is used to convert the photons of light energy into electrons

As the electrons pass through the tube, similar electrons are released from atoms in the tube, multiplying the original number of electrons by a factor of thousands through the use of a micro channel plate (MCP) in the tube At the end of the image-intensifier tube, the electrons hit a screen coated with phosphors

The green phosphor image is viewed through another lens, called the ocular lens, which allows you to magnify and focus the image. The NVD may be connected to an electronic display, such as a monitor, or the image may be viewed directly through the ocular lens

Principles in Night Vision Technology

Enhanced spectral range

Enhanced spectral range techniques make the viewer sensitive to types of light that would be invisible to a human observer Enhanced spectral range allows the viewer to take advantage of non-visible sources of electromagnetic radiation

Enhanced intensity range

Enhanced intensity range is simply the ability to see with very small quantities of light Enhanced intensity range is achieved via technological means through the use of an image intensifier, gain multiplication CCD, or other very low-noise and highsensitivity array of photodetectors

Night Glasses

Night glasses are telescopes or binoculars with a large diameter objective Large lenses can gather and concentrate light, thus intensifying light with purely optical means and enabling the user to see better in the dark than with naked eye alone War era night glasses usually had a lens diameter of 56 mm or more with magnification of seven or eight. Major drawbacks of night glasses are their large size and weight

Generations

Generation Generation Generation Generation Generation

0 1 2 3 4

Image Intensifier Principles of Operation

Fiber optic plates collimate incoming light before impacting a photo cathode which releases electrons, which in turn impact a phosphor screen The excited screen emits green light into a second fiber optic plate, and the process is repeated The complete process is repeated three times providing an overall gain of 10,000

In second-generation night visions the addition of the micro channel plate (MCP) collimated electron flow and increased the light-amplification gain Current image intensifiers incorporate their predecessor's resolution with additional light amplification The multi alkali photo cathode is replaced with a gallium arsenide photocathode; this extends the wavelength sensitivity of the detector into the near infrared The moon and stars provide light in these wavelengths, which boosts the effectively available light by approximately 30%, bringing the total gain of the system to around 30,000

Equipment

Scopes Goggles Cameras

Technical Characteristics of Night Vision

Textures, Light and Dark Depth Perception Fog and Rain Honeycomb Spots

Applications

Military Law enforcement Hunting Wildlife observation Surveillance Security Navigation Hidden-object detection Entertainment

Advantages

Distant vision is possible Detection of objects in absolute darkness Less affected by temperature variation

Conclusion

Night vision is used to locate an object which is 200 yards away even in moonless , cloudy night The original purpose of night vision was to locate enemy targets at night It is mainly used in military purposes as well as navigation , surveillance and targeting

Thank You