Spatial resolution element ($\Delta \vartheta \sim \lambda /D$)

A spatial resolution element is one independently resolved angular or spatial scale under a specified resolution criterion. For an ideal telescope of diameter $D$, its angular scale is of order $\lambda /D$ and its angular area of order $(\lambda /D{)}^2$. A photodetector detector pixel or spaxel can be smaller than a resolution element without adding independent spatial information.