<title>Three-dimensional analysis framework and measurement methodology for imaging system noise</title>

Modern imaging sensors incorporate complex focal plane architectures and sophisticated post- detector processing. These advanced technical characteristics create the potential for multi- component noise generation which can exhibit effects temporally as well as along the vertical and horizontal image directions. Such complex three-dimensional (time, vertical, horizontal) noise cannot be adequately treated by previous mathematical analyses developed for simpler system designs where detector noise was predominant. In a parallel sense, earlier methods for noise measurement are no longer satisfactory. A new methodology has been developed at C2NVEO to characterize the noise patterns exhibited by advanced thermal imaging systems. The methods represents a significant expansion of the standard techniques to characterize thermal system noise. This paper explains the principles behind the 3-D noise methodology and the methods used. It also describes how this methodology is implemented in a laboratory measurement environment.