Compensation of optical alignment issues for sectored-view multi-spectral optical sensors

A multi-spectral optical sensor comprising:

• a plurality of apertures;
• a plurality of lens arrangements;
• a plurality of optical filters;
• and
• a monolithic semiconductor chip defining a plurality of sub-arrays of optical detector regions, each sub-array comprising the same number and relative spatial arrangement of optical detector regions and the optical detector regions of each sub-array being arranged on a predetermined pitch in a direction parallel to a surface of the of the semiconductor chip,
• wherein each sub-array of optical detector regions is aligned with a corresponding optical filter, a corresponding lens arrangement and a corresponding aperture, and
• wherein the multi-spectral optical sensor is configured so that light from a scene incident on any one of the apertures (160a) along any given direction of incidence is transmitted through said one of the apertures, the corresponding lens arrangement and the corresponding optical filter to the corresponding sub-array of optical detector regions so as to form an out-of-focus image at a plane of the optical detector regions of the corresponding sub-array of optical detector regions such that a ratio of a full-width half maximum (FWHM) of an optical intensity distribution of the out-of-focus image to the predetermined pitch of the optical detector regions in the direction parallel to the surface of the semiconductor chip is greater than or equal to 2.0 and less than or equal to 4.0.