Recent trials results of a LWIR polarimeter

The aim of this paper is to describe the results of various trials involving a high-resolution thermal imager that has been designed to be sensitive to polarised radiation. Polarisation has the potential to discriminate man-made objects and disturbed earth from background clutter. Polarisation combined with conventional thermal imaging within the one camera offers the potential to significantly reduce false alarms in surveillance and detection applications. The camera used during the trials is a technology demonstrator developed by Thales Optronics, UK. The camera operates in the longwave infra red and has a QWIP polarisation-sensitive detector. The results presented in this paper include recent trials in the UK and USA. The aim of the trials was to assess the utility in using a LWIR polarimeter for detection of difficult objects from background clutter. Thermal and polarised images were captured and processed in order to detect anomalies. Several polarisation-based discriminative imaging techniques are applied to trials imagery. The effect of the diurnal cycle on the effectiveness of polarisation for object discrimination will be assessed.