An analysis on Polarization Characteristics of Leaf and Vegetation

Abstract

The relation between luster of a leaf and vegetation and polarization characteristics was investigated through laboratory and field experiment using a polarization analyzer.
The following results were obtained.
(1) Luster of leaf is influenced by a refractive index and roughness of a leaf facet, thus a lusterless leaf is characterized with larger values of roughness and refractive index compared with a lustered leaf.
(2) The dependence of polarization of lusterless leaf on incident angle is smaller than that of the lusterless leaves. There is a tendency that the maximum value of polarization of lusterless leaves appear at a larger incident angle than that of a lustered leaf.
(3) Both the polarization and specularity of lustered leaves are larger than those of lusterless leaves, especially at green band.
(4) Both an index of polarization(Rq) and a component of specular reflectance(Rs) of vegetation leaves do not depend on wavelength.
(5) The informations on polarization is useful for classfication of vegetation.