Angle of polarization calibration for omnidirectional polarization cameras

Abstract

Polarization cameras quantify one of the fundamental properties of light and capture intrinsic properties of the imaged environment that are otherwise omitted by color sensors. Many polarization applications, such as underwater geolocalization and sky-based polarization compass, require simultaneous imaging of the entire radial optical field with omnidirectional lenses. However, the reconstructed angle of polarization captured with omnidirectional lenses has a radial offset due to redirection of the light rays within these lenses. In this paper, we describe a calibration method for correcting angle of polarization images captured with omnidirectional lenses. Our calibration method reduces the variance of reconstructed angle of polarization from 76.2 ∘ to 4.1 ∘ . Example images collected both on an optical bench and in nature, demonstrate the improved accuracy of the reconstructed angle of polarization with our calibration method. The improved accuracy in the angle of polarization images will aid the development of polarization-based applications with omnidirectional lenses.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Feb 09, 2023
Source ID
10.1364/oe.483337

Entities

People

  • Alexander Schwing
  • David Forsyth
  • Viktor Gruev
  • Xiaoyang Bai
  • Zhongmin Zhu

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Office of Naval Research
  • University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Solar Physics