Super-resolution for imagery from integrated microgrid polarimeters

Imagery from microgrid polarimeters is obtained by using a mosaic of pixel-wise micropolarizers on a focal plane array (FPA). Each distinct polarization image is obtained by subsampling the full FPA image. Thus, the effective pixel pitch for each polarization channel is increased and the sampling frequency is decreased. As a result, aliasing artifacts from such undersampling can corrupt the true polarization content of the scene. Here we present the first multi-channel multi-frame super-resolution (SR) algorithms designed specifically for the problem of image restoration in microgrid polarization imagers. These SR algorithms can be used to address aliasing and other degradations, without sacrificing field of view or compromising optical resolution with an anti-aliasing filter. The new SR methods are designed to exploit correlation between the polarimetric channels. One of the new SR algorithms uses a form of regularized least squares and has an iterative solution. The other is based on the faster adaptive Wiener filter SR method. We demonstrate that the new multi-channel SR algorithms are capable of providing significant enhancement of polarimetric imagery and that they outperform their independent channel counterparts. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America