The temporal phase unwrapping algorithm (TPUA) can be interpreted as a phase accumulation process that can be reinitialized at specific time intervals. As a new reference can be taken after some pre-defined time, it is important to know how this time intervals influence the accuracy of the TPUA. An error analysis is then necessary to determine an optimum re-reference rate. This analysis has been carried out using three error sources: intensity, velocity, and speckle decorrelation. The small phase errors introduced by these error sources are accumulated along the time yielding total phase values that depend strongly on a re-reference rate. For the most common phase steeping algorithms, these errors are analyzed using a computer simulation of the speckle and experimental results confirm the expected results.

Date Published: 19 November 2003
PDF: 2 pages
Proc. SPIE 4829, 19th Congress of the International Commission for Optics: Optics for the Quality of Life, (19 November 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.530014

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4829:
19th Congress of the International Commission for Optics: Optics for the Quality of Life
Giancarlo C. Righini; Anna Consortini, Editor(s)