On the instrument profile of slit spectrographs

We derive an analytic expression for the instrument profile of a slit spectrograph, also known as the line spread function. While this problem is not new, our treatment relies on the operatorial approach to the description of diffractive optical systems, which provides a general framework for the analysis of the performance of slit spectrographs under different illumination conditions. Based on our results, we propose an approximation to the spectral resolution of slit spectrographs, taking into account diffraction effects and sampling by the detector, which improves upon the often adopted approximation based on the root-sumsquare of the individual contributions from the slit, the grating, and the detector pixel.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2014 Optical Society of America. This paper was published in Applied Optics and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: [article URL]. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Casini, Roberto
de Wijn, Alfred G.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2014-09-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2025-07-12T00:06:14.475906
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:18242
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Casini, Roberto, de Wijn, Alfred G.. (2014). On the instrument profile of slit spectrographs. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7736shv. Accessed 09 August 2025.

Harvest Source