An Introduction to Night Vision Technology

About the Monograph

This monograph is intended to familiarize a reader with the relevant factors and technologies that lead to the development of a night vision system based on image intensification in the visible and the near infrared regions of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The first four chapters discuss the human and external limitation due to restrictions of human observation by the environment and night illumination conditions, besides its ability for search and acquisition. The next set of chapters is devoted to optical, material and electro optical technologies that resulted in the image intensifier tubes for their use in the night vision systems. Finally, the monograph concludes with a chapter bringing out the range and performance limitations and requirements with illustrations of some of the state- of- the- art instrument systems.

About the Author

The author who rose to the level of a Distinguished Scientist in the Defence R&D Organisation and superannuated as Director, IRDE, Dehradun continued later for quite a few years as Scientist Emeritus both with his parent Department and with the council of Scientific & Industrial Research besides being responsible for the creation of a Photonics Laboratory at one of the Research centres of the Department of Electronics. During his tenure as Director and even earlier, he involved himself and his colleagues in research ,development and successful transfer of technology to various new and established production agencies. Thus for the first time in India, it was possible to produce a series of night vision and laser devices in significant numbers, competitive to the best in the world. The author has extensively lectured at various centres of learning and has over seventy publications in scientific journals both in India and abroad apart from quite a significant contribution to classified documents for the Defence R&D in the field of optics, optronics and electro-optics. He has also authored a text on Optical Workshop Technology and edited a milestone volume for the SPIE (USA) pertaining to Mirrors and Prisms.