TDI-like multi-slit hyperspectral imaging for enhanced throughput via the Kalman filter

The time-delay integration (TDI) technique is increasingly used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of remote sensing and imaging by exposing the scene multiple times. Inspired by the principle of TDI, we propose a TDI-like pushbroom multi-slit hyperspectral imaging (MSHSI) approach. In our system, multiple slits are used to significantly improve the throughput of the system, thereby enhancing the sensitivity and SNR through multiple exposures of the same scene during pushbroom scan. Meanwhile, a linear dynamic model for the pushbroom MSHSI is established, where the Kalman filter (KF) is employed to reconstruct the time-varying overlapped spectral images on a single conventional image sensor. Further, we designed and fabricated a customized optical system that can operate in both multi-slit and single slit modes to experimentally verify the feasibility of the proposed method. Experimental results indicate that the developed system improved SNR by a factor of about 7 compared to that of the single slit mode, while demonstrating excellent resolution in both spatial and spectral dimensions.(C)2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

The time-delay integration (TDI) technique is used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of remote sensing and imaging through multiple exposures. Inspired by TDI, we propose a TDI-like pushbroom multi-slit hyperspectral imaging (MSHSI) approach, using multiple slits to enhance sensitivity and SNR. We establish a linear dynamic model for pushbroom MSHSI and employ the Kalman filter (KF) for image reconstruction on a single image sensor. Experimental results show a significant SNR improvement compared to the single slit mode.