Denoising wavefront sensor image with deep neural networks

Abstract

A classical closed-loop adaptive optics system with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS) relies on a center of gravity approach to process the WFS information and an integrator with gain to produce the commands to a Deformable Mirror (DM) to compensate wavefront perturbations. In this kind of systems, noise in the WFS images can propagate to errors in centroids computation, and thus, lead the AO system to perform poorly in closed-loop operations. In this work, we present a deep supervised learning method to denoise the WFS images based on convolutional denoising autoencoders. Our method is able to denoise the images up to a high noise level and improve the integrator performance almost to the level of a noise-free situation.

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (author's final draft)