Multiple-plane particle image velocimetry using a light-field camera

Planar velocity fields in flows are determined simultaneously on parallel measurement planes by means of an in-house manufactured light-field camera. The planes are defined by illuminating light sheets with constant spacing. Particle positions are reconstructed from a single 2D recording taken by a CMOS-camera equipped with a high-quality doublet lens array. The fast refocusing algorithm is based on synthetic-aperture particle image velocimetry (SAPIV). The reconstruction quality is tested via ray-tracing of synthetically generated particle fields. The introduced single-camera SAPIV is applied to a convective flow within a measurement volume of 30 x 30 x 50 mm(3). (C)2013 Optical Society of America