Polarization signatures of man-made objects in the SW infrared spectral band

Detectability of man made objects in natural environment is strongly affected by the clutter properties of the background. To improve the ability to detect and recognize targets by human observers or by machine vision (ATR algorithm) additional information obtained from polarization properties can be exploited. This paper presents an experimental set up for the measurements of the polarization signature of man made objects based on a commercial FPA IR camera and an externally mounted linear polarizer. Some typical results obtained by this system are presented.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.