An Analysis of Solar Illuminated Terrain as a Source of Irradiation in Ground Target Signature Modeling.

Abstract

The sun (moon), sky, and ground can all serve as irradiation sources contributing to a reflective target signature. The absolute and relative magnitudes of the effects of these sources vary widely with the geometric and environmental conditions. The report addresses the manner in which the relative magnitudes of the three effects vary with the parameters of interest for a cloudless daytime sky. To do this, empirical expressions for sky and ground brightness were integrated over the hemisphere contributing to the irradiance incident on a one square cm target and compared to the solar contributions. This comparison was made for a number of geometric configurations, for visibilities between 5 and 50 kilometers, for wavelengths between 0.425 and 1.625 micrometers, and for grassy and sandy terrains. The results are presented in tabular form. A discussion of error sources is also included. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1973
Accession Number
AD0763893

Entities

People

  • Alan R. Downs

Organizations

  • Ballistic Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Bodies
  • Bodies Of Revolution
  • Brightness
  • Convex Bodies
  • Geometric Forms
  • Hemispheres
  • Instrumentation
  • Micrometers
  • Target Signatures
  • Visibility

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computer Vision.
  • Spectroscopy.