Disk-resolved and disk-integrated polarization state of moonlight as a function of lunar phase

Erica Venkatesulu; Sierra L. J. Dabby; Joseph A. Shaw

doi:10.1117/12.2677543

3 October 2023 Disk-resolved and disk-integrated polarization state of moonlight as a function of lunar phase

Erica Venkatesulu, Sierra L. J. Dabby, Joseph A. Shaw

Proceedings Volume 12690, Polarization Science and Remote Sensing XI; 126900K (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677543
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

To use moonlight as a source for on-orbit calibration of satellite instruments and for nighttime passive remote sensing, considerable effort has been made to develop and improve radiometric models of the Moon. However, to enable calibration of polarization-sensitive instruments and nighttime polarimetric remote sensing, the polarization state of moonlight must be known as well. While several observations of moonlight polarization have been published, there is no known database of disk-integrated polarization measurements or disk-resolved polarization images as a function of phase angle. We used a monochrome division-of-focal-plane polarization imager with a telescope (focal length of 2 m) and a telephoto lens (focal length of 300 mm) to record images of the degree and angle of linear polarization for lunar phases ranging from full Moon to about 15% full. We calculated the disk-integrated polarization state from the images. We present a plot of disk-integrated polarization state as a function of phase angle, which agrees well with similar plots published previously for small regions of the Moon. The disk-integrated degree of linear polarization (DoLP) reaches a maximum of approximately 8% at a phase angle near 100° and a minimum near 0% at a phase angle of 0°. We also present S₀, DoLP, and angle of polarization (AoP) images and use them to explain the lunar locations where polarized light primarily originates. To our knowledge, the presented DoLP images are higher resolution than previously published DoLP images, and AoP images presented here have not yet been published.

Conference Presentation

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Erica Venkatesulu, Sierra L. J. Dabby, and Joseph A. Shaw "Disk-resolved and disk-integrated polarization state of moonlight as a function of lunar phase", Proc. SPIE 12690, Polarization Science and Remote Sensing XI, 126900K (3 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677543

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