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The development of IR sensors with better spatial, temporal and thermal resolution pushes the necessity to revise and quantify the different atmospheric effects on sensor performance. In this paper, a high resolution IR sensor for point target detection is used as an example to show theoretically and experimentally the relevant atmospheric limitations. Special emphasis is put on the signal-to-noise ratio of point like objects in IR image sequences, on track evaluation of such objects, on the impact of optical turbulence, polarization and refraction in the track analysis.

FGAN-FOM participated in a maritime IR experiment carried out in Nettuno, Italy, in July 1998. JR sequences were recorded with a PtSi camera (spectral band: 1.2 to 5.9 jzm), positioned on the coast. The system was equipped with a rotating polarization filter. In this paper some selected JR sequences are presented showing the suppression of hot spots due to filter orientation. Moreover examples are given of intensity and spatial fluctuations caused by high turbulence.