  For exoplanet direct detection mission concepts such as Terrestrial Planet
Finder or Exoplanet Probe, light from the exozodiacal dust tends to obscure any
exoplanets present in the image. Data analysis methods to identify point
sources against this background have been very simple, traditionally with the
simplifying assumption that the exozodi is uniformly distributed, just as our
local zodiacal background is uniform over several-arcsec scales. However, the
typical size of an exozodi cloud is expected to be comparable to the typical
exoplanet orbital radii, or at least those of greatest interest_ the "habitable
zone" range from 0.7-1.5 AU. When a direct detection instrument is reduced in
size for cost reasons, the point spread function (PSF) becomes broader, making
it more difficult to distinguish a point source from a "blob" of exozodi light.
In this case, the shot-noise limited integration time may not be enough;
instead we may need an elevated signal-to-noise ratio and/or later measurements
to resolve ambiguities in the image data, identify a point source with a
calculable and high confidence level, and isolate the exozodi and exoplanet
contributions to the observed light profile. We will examine some typical
profiles and a few methods of analyzing image data, with the goal of
structuring an approach to this data analysis problem.
