White-light Interferometry using a Channeled Spectrum: II. Calibration Methods, Numerical and Experimental Results

In the companion paper, [Appl. Opt. 46, 5853 (2007)] a highly accurate white light interference model was developed from just a few key parameters characterized in terms of various moments of the source and instrument transmission function. We develop and implement the end-to-end process of calibrating these moment parameters together with the differential dispersion of the instrument and applying them to the algorithms developed in the companion paper. The calibration procedure developed herein is based on first obtaining the standard monochromatic parameters at the pixel level: wavenumber, phase, intensity, and visibility parameters via a nonlinear least-squares procedure that exploits the structure of the model. The pixel level parameters are then combined to obtain the required 'global' moment and dispersion parameters. The process is applied to both simulated scenarios of astrometric observations and to data from the microarcsecond metrology testbed (MAM), an interferometer testbed that has played a prominent role in the development of this technology.