Compensating for misalignment in an image scanner

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a detector array, electromagnetic (E-M) radiation from a target object, the detector array comprising a plurality of time delay and integration (TDI) detectors, the detectors organized into a plurality of segments, each segment comprising one or more rows of the detectors perpendicular to a designed scan axis, each segment comprising a plurality of columns of the detectors parallel to the designed scan axis, the detector array moving in a relative scan direction relative to the target object;
• performing the following for each segment of the detector array:
• performing the following for each column of the each segment to yield a plurality of signals, the each column detecting a portion of the target object:
• if there is misalignment at the each segment, passing a signal to a correcting next column of a next segment in the direction of the misalignment, the signal accumulating scan data of the portion of the target object;
• and
• otherwise, passing the signal to a designed next column of the next segment in the direction of the designed scan axis.

An apparatus comprising:

• a detector array configured to receive electromagnetic (E-M) radiation from a target object, the detector array comprising a plurality of time delay and integration (TDI) detectors, the detectors organized into a plurality of segments, each segment comprising a plurality of rows of the detectors perpendicular to a designed scan axis, each segment comprising a plurality of columns of the detectors parallel to the designed scan axis, the detector array moving in a relative scan direction relative to the target object;
• and
• one or more processors configured to perform the following for each segment of the detector array:
• perform the following for each column of the each segment to yield a plurality of signals, the each column detecting a portion of the target object:
• if there is misalignment at the each segment, pass a signal to a correcting next column of a next segment in the direction of the misalignment, the signal accumulating scan data of the portion of the target object;
• and
• otherwise, pass the signal to a designed next column of the next segment in the direction of the designed scan axis;
• and
• perform the following for each signal to yield a plurality of portions of a resulting image:
• obtain the scan data from the each signal, the each signal accumulating scan data of a portion of the target object;
• and
• generate image data from the scan data for a portion of the resulting image that corresponds to the portion of the target object.