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Interest in the eSWIR band is growing due to focal plane array technology advancements with mercury cadmium telluride and type-II superlattice materials. As design and fabrication processes improve, eSWIR detector size, weight, and power can now be optimized. For some applications, it is desirable to have a smaller detector size. Reduced solar illumination in the 2 to 2.5 μm spectral range creates a fundamental limit to passive imaging performance in the eSWIR band where the resolution benefit of small detectors cannot out-compete the reduced SNR in photon-starved environments. This research explores the underlying theory using signal-to-noise ratio radiometry and modeled target discrimination performance to assess the optimal detector size for eSWIR dependent upon illumination conditions. Finally, we model continuous-wave laser illumination in the eSWIR band to compare the effect of detector size on active and passive imaging for long-range object discrimination.

Daytime low-light conditions such as overcast, dawn, and dusk pose a challenge for object discrimination in the reflective bands, where the majority of illumination comes from reflected solar light. In reduced-illumination conditions, the sensor signal-to-noise ratio can suffer, inhibiting range performance for detecting, recognizing, and identifying objects of interest. This performance reduction is more apparent in the longer wavelengths where there is less solar light. Range performance models show a strong dependence on cloud type and thickness, as well as time of day across the reflective wavebands. Through an experimental and theoretical analysis of a passive sensitivity- and resolution-matched testbed, we compare Vis (0.4-0.7 µm), NIR (0.7-1 µm), SWIR (1-1.7 µm), and eSWIR (2-2.5 µm) to assess the limiting cases in which reduced illumination inhibits range performance. The time during dawn and dusk is brief yet does show significant range performance reduction for SWIR and eSWIR. Under heavy cloud cover, eSWIR suffers the most at range due to a low signal-to-noise ratio. In cases of severe reduction in illumination, we propose utilizing active illumination or the emissive component of eSWIR to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for various discrimination tasks.