Variations of the sodium layer altitude and atom density profile induce errors on laser-guide-star (LGS) adaptive optics systems. These errors must be mitigated by (i), optimizing the LGS wavefront sensor (WFS) and the centroiding algorithm, and (ii), by adding a high-pass filter on the LGS path and a low-bandwidth natural-guide-star WFS. In the context of the ESO E-ELT project, five centroiding algorithms, namely the centre-of-gravity (CoG), the weighted CoG, the matched filter, the quad-cell and the correlation, have been evaluated in closedloop on the University of Victoria LGS wavefront sensing test bed. Each centroiding algorithm performance is compared for a central versus side-launch laser, different fields of view, pixel sampling, and LGS flux.

Date Published: 12 July 2010
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 7736, Adaptive Optics Systems II, 773627 (12 July 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.857742

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7736:
Adaptive Optics Systems II
Brent L. Ellerbroek; Michael Hart; Norbert Hubin; Peter L. Wizinowich, Editor(s)