Optical effects of shock front on nose-mounted optics.
The density discontinuity in a shock wave of a vehicle in supersonic flight may affect the performance of optical systems behind the shock. These effects are evaluated for nose mounted f/2 optics under Mach 1.5 conditions. The optical conditions of the shock are included as an optical element in a computer ray trace program that computes modulation transfer function. Comparison of MTF results, both with and without the shock in the system, provides an indication of the performance degradation due to the shock.
Stauffer
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