Efficient Polarimetric Brdf Transformations

In order to characterize a target, the basic information that is of interest is spectral, polarization and distance. Imaging spectropolarimetry is a powerful tool for obtaining the polarization state of a scene and to discriminate manmade objects in a cluttered background. With respect to polarization, often the measurements are limited to the first three components of the Stokes vector, excluding circular polarization. The scene is therefore characterized in four directions of linear polarization, I-0, I-90, I-45 and I-135. An efficient polarimetric BRDF model defined in a local coordinate system has recently been published(1). The model will now be extended to a global coordinate system for linear polarized radiation. This includes the first three elements of the Stokes vector. We will provide examples for surface of intrinsically different scattering materials, bulk scattering materials and clear coated surfaces.