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FORTHCOMING SPECIAL SECTIONS:
Space Telescopes
3-D and 4-D Imaging Techniques and Applications
Free-Space Laser Communications
Active Imaging: Concepts, Components, and Applications
Computational Imaging
Precision Optical Measurements and Instrumentation for Geometrical and Mechanical Quantities
Terahertz and Millimeter Wave Imaging
Imaging Through the Atmosphere
Hyperspectral Imaging Systems
Laser Damage
High-Energy Laser Systems and Components
January 2012
Space Telescopes
Guest Editors:
Mark Clampin
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
James Webb Space Telescope
Mail Code 667
8800 Greenbelt Road
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771-2400
Tel: 301-286-4532
Fax: 301-286-1753
E-mail: mark.clampin@nasa.gov
Kathryn A. Flanagan
Space Telescope Science Institute
3700 San Martin Drive
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-2410
Tel: 410-338-5025
Fax: 410-338-4436
E-mail: flanagan@stsci.edu
Call for Papers: The last two decades have seen an array of space telescopes facilitate spectacular discoveries in astrophysics and advance our understanding of the earth. Perhaps the most famous of these telescopes is the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Space telescopes currently cover the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum to study astrophysics in gamma rays (Fermi telescope), x rays (Chandra), the visible and infrared regions (HST and Spitzer), and submillimeter waves (Herschel). A new generation of larger space telescope will start with the infrared James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which features a 6.5-m-diameter, segmented mirror architecture. Space telescopes for earth observation observatories are also now providing routine, detailed hyperspectral mapping of the planet's surface (Landsat, AQUA), weather systems (GOES), and atmosphere (AURA). In addition, earth observation has moved into the commercial realm with several companies operating space telescopes such as Worldview-2 and GeoEye-1 to provide geospatial imagery. This special section will focus on research to enable the next generation of space telescopes for astrophysics and earth science. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, space telescope design, new optical concepts for large space telescopes, scientific challenges that will drive the design of future space telescopes, instrumentation for space telescopes, lessons learned from the design of current space telescopes, and roadmaps for future space telescope development.
Closed for submissions.
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February 2012
3-D and 4-D Imaging Techniques and Applications
Guest Editors:
Lenny Lipton
Oculus3D
2588 Greenvalley Road
Los Angeles, California 90046-1438
Tel: 415-279-7736
E-mail: lipton3D@gmail.com
G. Charmaine Gilbreath
U. S. Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20375-5351
Tel: 202-767-0170
E-mail: charmaine.gilbreath@nrl.navy.mil
Call for Papers: The occasion for this call for papers and special section is the heightened interest in the stereoscopic medium. For decades there has been activity in electronic stereoscopic displays which have been used for applications such as molecular modeling and aerial mapping. Important insights in other areas of science have been enabled through the use of 3-D visualization tools and analysis, such as explorations of the sun's surface (NASA's STEREO mission), and recovery of 3-D topography of the ocean floor (SPOT missions).The recent heightened interest in the field is a direct result of the success of theatrical stereoscopic motion pictures and the introduction of stereoscopic television consumer products. The goal of this special section is to cover subjects related to the latest research and technology advances and to provide an overview useful to specialists in the field and engineers who will apply the technology. Original papers are solicited on, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- stereoscopic cinematic techniques
- 3-D algorithm advances
- multiplatform stereoscopy
- 3-D visualization technologies
- remote sensing applications for 3-D image reconstruction
- astrophysics and stereoscopy
- 3-D-enabled diagnostics
- 3-D-enabled localization
- LIDAR-enhanced 3-D image reconstruction
- stereoscopic standards
- stereoscopic image quality and metrics
- stereoscopic cameras and image rectification
- multiview content and displays
- depth mapping
Closed for submissions.
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March 2012
Free-Space Laser Communications
Guest Editor:
Hamid Hemmati
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, California 91109
Tel: 818- 354-4960
Fax: 818-393-6142
E-mail: hhemmati@jpl.nasa.gov
Call for Papers: There is an ever-increasing demand to transmit larger volumes of data due to the growing sophistication of sensors and other data-generating instruments. Laser optical communications (lasercom) through free space provides virtually unlimited bandwidth in the presently unregulated portion of the spectrum, where wireless connectivity at high data rates is required. The primary advantage of lasercom arises from the narrow beamwidth of optical beams-which in turn requires challenging precision in laser beam pointing. This special section will provide a forum for all professionals involved in technologies related to lasercom and broadband optical communications. The goal is to cover subjects related to the latest research and technology advances and to provide an overview useful to lasercom specialists and engineers. Original papers are solicited on, but are not limited to, the following topics: ongoing lasercom programs; system requirements; technology and subsystem advancements; in-depth analysis of present and next-generation lasercom systems and technologies; terrestrial, airborne, and spaceborne systems; laser transmitters for spaceborne applications; modulation and error correction coding for the optical band; pointing, acquisition, and tracking; atmospheric propagation; transmission effects and their compensation techniques; optoelectronic sensors and receivers; single-photon sensitive detection; novel optical systems for laser beam transmission and reception; flight qualification, lifetime, and reliability; ground receivers, particularly low-cost large apertures; field demonstrations; hybrid optical/radio-frequency links; and quantum optical communication and cryptography.
Closed for submissions.
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June 2012
Active Imaging: Concepts, Components, and Applications
Guest Editor:
Edward A. Watson
Air Force Research Laboratory
Sensors Directorate
2241 Avionics Circle
WPAFB, Ohio 45433
Tel: 937-528-8675
E-mail: edward.watson@wpafb.af.mil
Call for Papers: Active-imaging systems, that is, systems that employ a laser illumination source, can have many benefits. Control of the illumination source allows one to segment objects of interest from background clutter, ignore scattering from intervening obscurants, and provide more robust, higher contrast images for a variety of applications. Traditionally a laser source is used to transmit a particular waveform (typically a pulse or string of pulses, but other waveforms are possible) and estimate range by measuring the time it takes for the energy scattered off of the object to return to a receiver. Angle/angle or cross-range characteristics of the object can be measured either by scanning the laser beam (if the receiver has only a single or limited number of detectors) or by flood illuminating a large area and detecting the scattered return on a number of pixels simultaneously using a two-dimensional focal plane array. Recent advances in component technology, coupled with increased postdetection processing capability, have produced a surge in the development and implementation of laser-based imaging systems for diverse applications ranging from terrain and ice-field mapping to synthetic aperture imaging. Original papers are solicited on, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Novel component technologies
- Sources for active imaging systems
- Receiver and camera technologies, including innovative read-out integrated circuitry
- Agile apertures for control of laser waveforms
- Postdetection processing of received waveforms
- 3-D active-imaging systems
- Novel active-imaging system concepts
- Synthetic aperture imaging systems
- Structured illumination imaging systems
- Polarization and spectral imaging systems
- Waveform definition and optimization
- Speckle: reduction and utilization
- Photon counting components, systems, and applications
- Demonstrations and applications of active-imaging systems
Closed for submissions.
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July 2012
Computational Imaging
Guest Editors:
David J. Brady
Duke University
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Durham, North Carolina 27708
Tel: 919-660-5394
E-mail: David.Brady@duke.edu
Robert C. Gibbons
Raytheon Company
Space and Airborne Systems
6620 Chase Oaks Boulevard, MS 8539
Plano, Texas 75023
Tel: 972-344-7757
E-mail: bob-gibbons@raytheon.com
Call for Papers: Computational imaging consists of joint design of physical layer coding and digital processing for improved system performance. Demonstrated applications include wavefront coding for extended depth of field; projection coding for spectral imaging and computed tomography; and multiaperture sampling for color, dynamic range, depth of field, polarization, or resolution management. This special section will be a snapshot of current studies of computational imaging for wide-field, multispectral, holographic, and multimodal applications. Topics of particular interest include:
- Physical demonstrations of compressive imaging
- Integrated design of optics, focal planes, and read-out circuits for computational cameras
- Compressive spectral and/or spatial tomography
- Compressive holography and diffraction tomography
- Lens and optical element design for computational and multiaperture systems
- Specific computational EO/IR, millimeter wave, terahertz, and x-ray imagers
- SWaP, SNR, or processing metrics for computational imagers
- Feature specific imagers.
Closed for submissions.
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August 2012
Precision Optical Measurements and Instrumentation for Geometrical and Mechanical Quantities
Guest Editors:
Kuang-Chao Fan
National Taiwan University
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Taipei, Taiwan 10617
Tel: +886-2-2362-0032
E-mail: fan@ntu.edu.tw
Rong-Sheng Lu
Hefei University of Technology
School of Instrument Science and Optoelectronic Engineering
Hefei, Anhui, 230009, China
Tel: +86 551 2901870
E-mail: rslu@hfut.edu.cn
Lian-Xiang Yang
Oakland University
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Rochester, Michigan 48309
Tel: 248-370-2283
E-mail: yang2@oakland.edu
Call for Papers: Precision optical measurements and instrumentation have gained great prominence in the last decade in the areas of high-precision production and manufacturing, and thus the development of new and improved high-precision processes and machines. Many advanced technology products depend entirely on one or more components being manufactured to tolerances or dimensions in the micro- or even nanotechnology range. This special section shall serve as a forum to share the latest advances of optical-based precision measurements and instrumentation for geometrical and mechanical quantities, such as length, angle, form, surface roughness, displacement/strain, torque, speed, and other related fields. Recent developments and next-generation methods for measurement of these quantities are both of interest. The highlighted topics for the solicited papers are as follows:
- modern optics and instruments for precision measurements
- micro/nanomeasurements and micro/nanodevices
- optoelectronic systems and optical instrument design
- optical measurements and image processing
- online and in-press measurements
- intelligent measurements and instrumentation
- uncertainty, traceability and calibration, and signal-processing algorithms.
Closed for submissions.
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September 2012
Terahertz and Millimeter Wave Imaging
Guest Editors:
Eddie Jacobs
The University of Memphis
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
206 Engineering Science Building
Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3180
Tel: 901-678-3312
E-mail: eljacobs@memphis.edu
Roger Appleby
The Institute of Electronics Communications and Information Technology
Queen's University Belfast
NI Science Park
Queen's Road Queen's Island
Belfast, Northern Ireland
BT3 9DT
Tel: +44 2890971830
E-mail: applebyroger@yahoo.co.uk
Dennis Prather
University of Delaware
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
140 Evans Hall
Newark, Delaware 19716-3130
Tel: 302-831-8170
E-mail: dprather@ee.udel.edu
Call for Papers: In imaging, there is a growing need to leverage the available spectrum, namely the millimeter, submillimeter, and terahertz regions. There are many phenomenological benefits, but also many challenges in designing good quality instruments. These imaging systems often require a complicated marriage of radio frequency design techniques and traditional optical design. This special section will highlight recent innovations in bringing these previously disparate areas of technology together to realize imaging systems for these regions of the spectrum. In particular, papers are solicited in the following areas:
- Millimeter and terahertz wave materials, devices, and fabrication processes
- Millimeter and terahertz wave integrated photonic devices
- Millimeter and terahertz wave active and passive imaging systems
- Phased-array and single-element photonically driven systems
- Millimeter and terahertz wave photonic up- and down-converters
- Enabling technologies for terahertz/millimeter wave imaging
- Imaging system architectures
- Applications of terahertz/millimeter wave imaging
- Spectral/multiband imaging systems
- Automatic processing of terahertz/millimeter wave images.
Manuscripts due 15 February 2012.
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October 2012
Imaging Through the Atmosphere
Guest Editors:
Gisele Bennett
Georgia Institute of Technology
College of Engineering
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
925 Dalney Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Tel: 404-407-6155
E-mail: gisele.bennett@gtri.gatech.edu
Teresa Pace
U.S. Army Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate
12423 Research Parkway
Orlando, Florida 32826
Tel: 407-208-3213
E-mail: teresa.l.pace2.civ@mail.mil
Call for papers: Turbulent layers in the atmosphere can cause plane waves from a distant point source to become perturbed and distorted. This turbulence is a result of a randomly varying refractive index in the propagation layer of the earth’s atmosphere and is affected by many parameters including wind, diurnal conditions, humidity, and altitude. In astronomical imaging, this is the effect that is observed when a star appears to be twinkling or scintillating. When atmospheric phase distortions are severe, the resolution of the imaging sensor is severely limited. At low altitude extended ranges, large f-number imaging systems are very susceptible to these atmospheric effects. In desert conditions specifically, turbulence can become very high, causing a significant degradation in image quality. In some scenarios, the turbulence is so severe that objects of interest can be completely lost. The impact of the atmosphere on an imaging system’s performance is critical and therefore understanding, modeling, and mitigating the effects of it are of significant interest to optical researchers.
Topics may include but are not limited to:
- Atmospheric effects on image generation
- Image restoration approaches due to turbulence
- Sensor effects due to atmospheric propagation in various wavebands (visible, SWIR, MW/LWIR)
- Turbulence mitigation algorithm approaches
- Atmospheric modeling and simulation
- Metrics of image distortion and performance improvement
- Effects of image understanding (such as facial recognition) due to the atmosphere
- Algorithm development and implementation for various mitigation approaches (speckle imaging, lucky region imaging)
- Hardware implementations and challenges associated with atmospheric turbulence reduction algorithms (real-time)
- Turbulence as a function of integration time or wavelength
- Atmospheric optics
- Atmospheric characterization
- Speckle imaging
- Adaptive optics
Manuscripts due 15 February 2012.
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November 2012
Hyperspectral Imaging Systems
Guest Editors:
Christopher G. Simi
U.S. Department of Defense
13600 Bare Island Drive
Chantilly, Virginia 20151
E-mail: photonfive@gmail.com
John N. Lee
U.S. Naval Research Lab.
Code 5660.1
4555 Overlook Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20375-5623
E-mail: john.lee@nrl.navy.mil
Call for papers: Over the past two decades spectral techniques that employ tens to hundreds of narrow spectral bands (i.e., hyperspectral techniques) have advanced from laboratory-based concepts and hardware into a practical and significant tool in application areas as diverse as natural resource exploration, environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and potential military applications. Advances in processing algorithms and techniques have resulted in enormous reductions in false alarm rate in the detection and identification of classes of material and in improvements in discrimination between classes, e.g., man-made versus natural. Additional algorithmic advances have allowed performance over a wide range of environmental conditions. Advances in optics and computational power have enabled real-time processing of large hyperspectral data “cubes” and packaging of ruggedized instruments into compact forms suitable for airborne and space platforms. The current challenge is to maintain the trajectory of capability growth. Because of the multidimensional nature of hyperspectral imagery, coverage rates are necessarily lower than for panchromatic systems. The advent of persistent sensing small platforms is a driver for even more-compact hyperspectral systems. The employment of hyperspectral to highly variegated scenes (such as urban scenes) necessitates the development of improved algorithmic approaches for discrimination of true targets from a very high level of clutter.
The goal of this special section is to cover subjects related to the latest advances in hyperspectral research, technology, and application, and to provide an overview useful to specialists in the field and engineers who will apply the technology. Original papers are solicited on, but are not limited to, the advances in the techniques and theory of hyperspectral detection, classification, and identification.
Manuscripts due 1 March 2012.
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December 2012
Laser Damage
Guest Editors:
Vitaly Gruzdev
University of Missouri, Columbia
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department
E2411 Thomas & Nell Lafferre Hall
Columbia, Missouri 65211-0001
Tel: 573-882-7292
Fax: 573-554-5090
E-mail: gruzdevv@missouri.edu
Michelle D. Shinn
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Suite 19
12000 Jefferson Ave
Newport News, Virginia 23606
Tel: 757-269-7565
Fax: 757-269-5001
E-mail: shinn@jlab.org
Call for Papers: The Annual Symposia on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers is the leading forum for the exchange of information on the physics/technology of materials for high power/high energy lasers. Materials include, but aren’t limited to thin films, bulk materials, fibers, and metaoptics. The conference proceedings series has grown to be a comprehensive source of information on optics for lasers. This special section invites both proceedings papers from the conference, and also submissions from authors who did not attend the conference, but have a paper related to the topic. Papers are solicited in the following areas:
• component fabrication
• materials and thin-film preparation
• materials and thin-film durability
• materials and thin-film properties
• modeling of the laser-materials interaction
• fundamental mechanisms of laser-induced damage
• contamination of optical components
• laser-induced damage protocols.
Manuscripts due 15 March 2012.
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February 2013
High-Energy Laser Systems and Components
Guest Editor:
John R. Albertine
109 Kingswood Rd.
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Tel: 410-571-6772
E-mail: albertij@erols.com
Call for Papers: Concepts for optical weapon systems far predate the first optical maser: consider Archimedes' defense of Syracuse and the Martian invasion of earth in Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. The first flash-lamp pumped ruby laser was demonstrated in 1960, rapidly followed by flowing-gas, combustion-driven lasers. Average power rose rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s while the imagination and expectations of the U.S., Soviet, and other militaries around the world rose even faster. The Cold War resulted in large investments, some premature, in laser and related optical component technologies. There were major advances in many fields combined with demonstrations of large laser systems at fixed locations, as well as in airborne and ground vehicles. Despite substantial investments and advances, issues of size, weight, cost, and capability versus expectation have inhibited deployment. Recent advances in high average power solid-state lasers and emphasis in tactical versus strategic warfare may provide new opportunities for current capabilities to meet needs.
Papers are sought which discuss history and plans, current state of the art, and technical issues which limit progress. Specific areas of interest for this special section include the following topics:
- High average power gas/combustion-driven lasers
- High average power solid-state (fiber, slab, thin-disk, etc.) lasers
- High average power free-electron lasers
- Beam control systems for high-energy laser devices
- Adaptive optics for high-energy laser systems dealing with high Rytov numbers and thermal blooming
- Materials development which enables high performance elements such as optics, coatings, or deformable mirrors
- High-energy laser system demonstrations.
Manuscripts due 1 May 2012.
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