Radiation Polarization Effect on the Retrieval of the Earth’s Surface Reflection Coefficient from Satellite Data in the Visible Wavelength Range

Abstract

The problem of taking into account the polarization effect in atmospheric correction of satellite images of the Earth’s surface in the visible wavelength range is considered. Some software for the calculation of radiation components forming satellite images has been developed with and without allowance for polarization in the approximation of a homogeneous surface. Conditions under which neglecting polarization properties of the radiation can lead to significant errors in the retrieval of reflection coefficients of lowreflecting surfaces have been obtained.