Comparison Between Single-Aperture and Multi-Aperture Approaches to Computer Correction of Images

The effectiveness of the reconstruction of images formed by single- and multi-aperture systems and distorted by an atmospheric turbulence is analyzed in this work. Based on numerical simulation, we show that the use of multi-aperture observation systems for the computer correction of atmospheric distortions under anisoplanar conditions can significantly reduce the exposure time. Main distortions are well corrected during image synthesis for a short exposure time, which corresponds to a “frozen” turbulence. The time required for the correction of residual small-scale distortions is an order of magnitude shorter than in the case of synthesis of long-exposure images with the use of traditional single-aperture observation systems.