RUI: Visual and Spectral Properties of Tropospheric Haze

该研究项目将采用一种全新的方法，利用高光谱和多光谱成像技术对大气烟雾进行光学遥感。 科学目标是首次测量对流层霾在可见光波段的综合角度和光谱特性。由于不存在这种测量的霾光谱的角分布，这些数据集将构成一个全新的工具，用它来检验大气辐射传输模型。第二个科学目标是分析雾霾的色度和光度特性，这是重要的视觉测量方法，但人们对其了解并不比光谱测量方法多。首先，它将允许一个系统的分析霾光学特性，现在是不可能的，映射对流层霾光谱的实际分布作为太阳高度，散射角和霾气溶胶光学厚度的函数。 其次，该研究将提供基于RGB数码相机的多光谱成像系统的色度、光度和光谱精度的独立测试。 当通过线性偏振器获取时，高光谱数据也可用于独立测试现有的用于映射霾偏振的多光谱技术。雾霾偏振的光谱测量是罕见的，这项研究获得的数据将是独一无二的。除了推进大气科学本身，这项研究将（1）有利于科学教育，（2）对公众产生更广泛的影响。关于第（1）点，数字成像技术将被用于日常课堂教学和为期一年的海军学院海军军官候补生荣誉研究项目。关于第（2）点，更好地理解霾的角度和光谱分布在诸如提高驾驶员、飞行员和水手的能见度、从单个室外图像估计物体距离以及提供测量空气污染特性的新方法等领域具有实际应用。

This research project will employ a fundamentally new approach to optical remote sensing of atmospheric haze, using both hyperspectral and multispectral imaging techniques. The scientific objective is to measure for the first time the combined angular and spectral properties of tropospheric haze at visible wavelengths. Because no such measured angular distributions of haze spectra exists, these datasets will constitute an entirely new tool with which to vet atmospheric radiative transfer models. A second scientific objective is to analyze the range of haze's colorimetric and photometric properties, important visual measures that are little better understood than its spectral ones.The intellectual merit of the project is twofold. First, it will permit a systematic analysis of haze optical properties that is now impossible, mapping actual distributions of tropospheric haze spectra as functions of sun elevation, scattering angle, and haze aerosol optical depth. Second, the research will provide independent tests of the colorimetric, photometric, and spectral accuracies of multispectral imaging systems based on RGB digital cameras. When acquired through a linear polarizer, hyperspectral data also can be used to independently test existing multispectral techniques for mapping haze polarization. Spectral measurements of haze polarization are rare, and data obtained in this study will be unique.Beyond advancing atmospheric science itself, the research will (1) benefit science education and (2) have broader impacts on the general public. On point (1) digital imaging techniques will be used both in daily classroom instruction and in year-long honors research projects for Naval Academy midshipmen. On point (2), better understanding the angular and spectral distribution of haze has practical applications in such areas as improving visibility for drivers, pilots, and sailors, estimating object distances from single outdoor images, and providing new ways to measure air pollution properties.