Imaging resolution analysis in limited-view Laser Radar reflective tomography

In many applications of Laser radar reflective tomography, anisotropic resolution of images reconstructed from an incomplete set of reflective projections will degrade imaging quality. In this paper, we present the theoretical point spread function (PSF) of imaging system over full views for reflective tomography. The corresponding imaging resolution of the PSF was determined by Rayleigh's criterion, here the most common algorithm of filtered backprojection was used for image reconstruction. The theoretical imaging resolution was derived approximately from the range resolution resolved by the laser pulse. The simulated horizontal imaging resolutions of an ideal diffused single point target in different limited-views were compared with the theoretical value. Experimental reconstructed images from limit-view projections of letter “E” illustrated the effects of anisotropic resolution.