Measuring bulk angular scattering in atmospherically relevant degraded visual environments

Abstract

Atmospheric fogs create degraded visual environments, making it difficult to recover optical information from our surroundings. We have developed a low-SWaP technique which characterizes these environments using an f-theta lens to capture the angular scattering profile of a pencil beam passed through a fog. These measurements are then compared to data taken in tandem by conventional characterization techniques (optical transmission, bulk scattering coefficient, etc.). We present this angular scattering measurement as a low-SWaP alternative to current degraded visual environment characterization techniques to provide real-time data for implementation with signal recovery algorithms.