Photonics Dictionary

The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other types of map making and surveying. The data can be photographic, electronic...

The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive aerial photographs by more than 50 percent.

A two-phase system consisting of dispersed liquid or solid particles in a gas; examples include dust, smoke and clouds.

In aerial photography, the geometric method of indicating the three-dimensional location of ground points from a pair of aerial photographs.

An optical system with object and image points at infinity. Literally, "without a focal length."

That image remaining on the detector after the primary stimulus has been removed. In the visual system, the after-image commonly appears as the complementary color of the primary stimulus.

The luminosity that remains in a rarefied gas after an electrodeless discharge has traversed the gas.

Agri-photonics refers to the application of photonics technologies in agriculture. Photonics involves the generation, manipulation, and detection of light and other forms of radiant energy whose...

An AI system-on-chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that integrates hardware components optimized for performing AI computations efficiently. These components typically include: AI accelerators:...

A visible laser beam generated coaxially with an infrared or other invisible laser beam to aid in its positioning.

An instrument designed to measure angles in azimuth; used in general topographic work and military gunnery.

A support device in which a column or chamber of air permits the free travel of a mobile part. In optical mounting and positioning equipment, air bearings are of two types, linear or rotary,...

A quantitative measure of the amount of radiation given off by an instrument, expressed in roentgens per unit of free air.

Diffuse light emitted by the atmosphere due to the excitation of particles of atmospheric gas. These excited particles release light that is visible from Earth as a faint luminescence in the night...

The equation devised by Sir G.B. Airy for the analysis of light diffraction near a caustic surface: (d2f/dz2) - zf = 0 where z represents the independent variable, and f is the value of the function.

The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a uniformly irradiated, aberration-free circular optical element or system.

The ratio of radiant energy reflected from a rough surface to that incident on it. Usually, the radiant energy is total solar energy; thus, it is not a spectral quantity.

A host crystal for chromium that emits pulsed or continuous-wave laser light, tunable from about 720 to 790 nm.

An alexandrite laser is a solid-state laser that utilizes a synthetic crystal made from the rare earth element alexandrite (BeAl2O4:Cr3+). This crystal is capable of emitting laser light in the...

A precisely defined series of steps that describes how a computer performs a task.

In image processing, the result of a sampling frequency that is too slow to preserve the spatial frequencies of the image. When detail has a frequency greater than half the sampling frequency, it...

An old name for the rotating arm moving about an axis of rotation over a divided circle used to measure angles. Now the term refers to a small stadia telescope mounted over a ruler for use in...

An assembly of fibers in which the coordinates of each fiber are the same at the two ends of the bundle. Also called coherent bundle.

A laser, usually employing helium-neon or other gases as the active medium, used for alignment in industrial applications.

An optical tooling instrument consisting of an objective lens, a focusing lens, an optical micrometer, a reticle and an eyepiece. The alignment telescope projects a precise line of sight to which a...