Aerial observation from aircraft or spaceship - uses CCD sensor scanned synchronously with aircraft motion

摘要

A method of aerial reconnaissance is based on a charge coupled device consisting of a matrix of photo elements which scans a region (1) as it is overflown by an aircraft or space ship. An objective (4) projects an image of an observed scene on to the charge coupled device matrix (3) generating an electronic charge dependent on the illumination falling on each photoelement. Under the influence of a control logic circuit (5), successive rows of the matrix are scanned as the aircraft or space ship follows its course. The control logic circuit also synchronises a recorder or transmitter (6) with the matrix scan. A charge is accumulated in the matrix elements in accordance with the incident illumination and is removed serially in the usual way. The period between successive charge removals may be varies to accommodate variations in the level of incident illumination.