Infrared scene modeling in emissive, absorptive, and multiple scattering atmospheres

Robert A. Sutherland; Jill C. Thompson; Scarlett D. Ayres

doi:10.1117/12.440078

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18 September 2001 Infrared scene modeling in emissive, absorptive, and multiple scattering atmospheres

Robert A. Sutherland, Jill C. Thompson, Scarlett D. Ayres

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Proceedings Volume 4370, Targets and Backgrounds VII: Characterization and Representation; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.440078
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing, Simulation, and Controls, 2001, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The presence of an intervening atmosphere can affect the underlying background signature in at least two important ways; 1) by modification of the thermal energy reaching the surface and thus a change in the energy balance driving the dynamics of the underlying thermal scene, and 2) by modification of the propagated signal reaching some specified sensor. Both are described to some extent in the SPIE handbooks. The most obvious effect is that due to direct beam extinction which, in all cases, leads to a reduction of the transmitted thermal energy. This component of the total signal is readily calculated using the well- known Beer's Law, provided that the infrared optical thickness of the intervening atmospheric path is known. In the real atmosphere, however, this effect is indirectly counterbalanced by the effects of multiple scattering and thermal emission which generally gives rise to an enhancement of the thermal energy and is usually more difficult to calculate especially for the case of an aerosol laden or dirty atmosphere. In this paper we build on our previous work by incorporating the enhanced radiation as it affects the sensed background scene using a recently developed aerosol emissivity model, PILOT81, integrated with the U.S. Army COMBIC model using the discrete Gaussian cloud formation.

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Robert A. Sutherland, Jill C. Thompson, and Scarlett D. Ayres "Infrared scene modeling in emissive, absorptive, and multiple scattering atmospheres", Proc. SPIE 4370, Targets and Backgrounds VII: Characterization and Representation, (18 September 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.440078

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