NONLINEAR SCANNING TO OPTIMIZE SECTOR SCAN ELECTRO-OPTIC RECONNAISSANCE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

Long range, non-linear, sector scan panoramic electro-optical reconnaissance of a scene from an airborne craft is performed at increased aircraft velocities with a given detector technology at a desired level of performance. A focal plane array is configured to detect an image of the scene, and to convert the image into electronic charge information representing the image. A main electronics unit that converts the electronic charge representation into an electronic signal which is a digital representation of the image. A lens arrangement is used to focus a narrow slit of the scene onto the focal plane array, and a rotating prism scans the slit across the scene at a non-linear scanning velocity as determined according to the present invention. The electronic signal is transmitted to a ground station where it is processed to provide visual image data and that represents the scene, distortion induced into this data as a result of the non-linear scan velocity is removed to provide a distortion free final image.