Research on Ground Feature’s Polarized Properties with Multi-Spectral and Multi-Angle AirMSPI Data

Abstract

Polarization is an important characteristic of electromagnetic wave, and using polarization information to study ground features has been proved to be an effective means. Research on ground feature’s polarized properties is an essential part of earth observation. At present, it is in highly need of accurate polarization sensors globally. AirMSPI , (Airborne Multiangle Spectro-Polarimetric Imager) as a new airborne polarized sensor, can obtain multi-band and multi-angle polarization data, and the spatial resolution can reach to ~10 meters. Using the experimental data of Tracy in the year of 2013, this paper analyzes the varying pattern of DOLP (Degree of Linear Polarization) as well as pBRF(polarized Bidirectional Reflectance Factor) in 470 nm, 660 nm, 865 nm bands and 9 view zenith angles. The result shows that, forward scattering of ground features contains plenty of polarized radiation, and ground features present strong non-lambertian effect near principal plane of incidence. DOLP and pBRF has strong correlation to relative position between incidence and view angle. DOLP reaches the maximum value when two directions are perpendicular while pBRF increases with larger view zenith angle. Because of atmospheric effect, radiance of blue band contains most polarized light. However, red and infrared band can attenuate atmospheric molecular polarization scattering effectively, thus contain more polarization details of ground features. Water, artificial structure, residential area, bare soil and vegetation show distinct polarization characteristics, and can be clearly identified. Due to depolarization effect from multi-scattering effect, DOLP and reflected radiation intensity have highly negative correlation, with correlation coefficient generally more than -0.8. AirMSPI sensor can provide high-quality polarization data, as a strong verification to ground-based and satellite-based polarization data, and support parameters inversion of atmosphere and ground features.