Bernoulli generalized likelihood ratio test for signal detection from photon counting images
Abstract
Because exoplanets are extremely dim, an electron multiplying charge-coupled device operating in photon counting (PC) mode is necessary to reduce the detector noise level and enable their detection. Typically, PC images are added together as a co-added image before processing. We present a signal detection and estimation technique that works directly with individual PC images. The method is based on the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) and uses a Bernoulli distribution between PC images. The Bernoulli distribution is derived from a stochastic model for the detector, which accurately represents its noise characteristics. We show that our technique outperforms a previously used GLRT method that relies on co-added images under a Gaussian noise assumption and two detection algorithms based on signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, our method provides the maximum likelihood estimate of exoplanet intensity and background intensity while doing detection. It can be applied online, so it is possible to stop observations once a specified threshold is reached, providing confidence for the existence (or absence) of planets. As a result, the observation time is efficiently used. In addition to the observation time, the analysis of detection performance introduced in the paper also gives quantitative guidance on the choice of imaging parameters, such as the threshold. Lastly, though our work focuses on the example of detecting point source, the framework is widely applicable.
Additional Information
© The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. Paper 20141 received Sep. 17, 2020; accepted for publication May 20, 2021; published online Jun. 17, 2021. This work was supported by Caltech-JPL NASA under Grant No. NNN12AA01C. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for the insightful comments, especially for suggesting the comparison with methods based on SNR defined with our Bernoulli model results. The authors have no relevant financial interests in the paper and no other potential conflicts of interest to disclose.Attached Files
Published - 028006_1.pdf
Accepted Version - 2005.09808.pdf
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Additional details
- Alternative title
- A Sequential Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test for Signal Detection from Photon Counting Images
- Eprint ID
- 110371
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20210821-165843612
- NNN12AA01C
- NASA
- Created
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2021-08-21Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-08-21Created from EPrint's last_modified field