Abstract

Linear polarization of the clear daytime sky has often been measured as a spectrally integrated or quasi-monochromatic variable, but seldom as a spectral one. So we use a hyperspectral imaging system to measure skylight polarization at high spectral and angular resolutions for clear and hazy skies at our coastal site. The resulting polarization maps and spectra exhibit both commonalities and differences that seem unexplained by an existing polarized radiative transfer model. Comparing the measured polarization spectra with those predicted by aerosol single scattering suggests some basic verisimilitude tests for improving such models.

© 2012 Optical Society of America

Tropospheric haze and colors of the clear daytime sky

Raymond L. Lee
Appl. Opt. 54(4) B232-B240 (2015)

Digital imaging of clear-sky polarization

Raymond L. Lee
Appl. Opt. 37(9) 1465-1476 (1998)

Tropospheric haze and colors of the clear twilight sky

Raymond L. Lee and Duncan C. Mollner
Appl. Opt. 56(19) G179-G187 (2017)

Measuring and modeling twilight’s Belt of Venus

Raymond L. Lee
Appl. Opt. 54(4) B194-B203 (2015)

Polarization patterns of thick clouds: overcast skies have distribution of the angle of polarization similar to that of clear skies

Ramón Hegedüs, Susanne Åkesson, and Gábor Horváth
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 24(8) 2347-2356 (2007)