Superresolved image reconstruction of images taken through the turbulent atmosphere

Superresolved image reconstruction is demonstrated by use of multiple images taken through atmospheric turbulence under photon-limited conditions. An iterative reconstruction algorithm applies estimate-maximize techniques to a series of short-exposure images of the desired object scene along with the corresponding image sequence of a guide star. Simulations show that estimates of the Fourier components both below and above the diffraction limit are improved at successive iterations. The estimated images give finer detail of the original object than does the diffraction-limited image. Effects of photon-noise levels on restoration performance are investigated, and a modification to the reconstruction algorithm is derived that accounts for the effects of CCD read noise.