Active polarimetric assessment of surface weathering

Abstract

Remote-sensing technology for weathering assessment should be sensitive to both textural and compositional changes in a surface. The capabilities of active polarimetry in weathering assessment are investigated through measurements of the Mueller matrices of bare and painted metal and dielectric surfaces at visible laser wavelengths in the quasi-monostatic geometry. Weathering mechanisms investigated include particulate erosion and solar irradiation, which are found to alter certain off-diagonal Mueller elements by around 5% in measurements over illumination angle.