Imaging asymmetry in the presence of a bright interferent

Previously, Alyones et. al. (Appl Opt. 54 (2015)),1 showed that a pair of aerosol plumes — one purely scattering, the other purely absorbing—in the presence of a bright interferent, had the interesting property that the imaging contrast ratios through the pair of plumes were different in the two opposing directions. In this article, we generalize their earlier findings to plumes that have both absorption and scattering properties. In addition, by using the radiative transfer equation and its path integral solution, our method incorporates path length dependence, angular broadening due to multiple scattering, and arbitrary interferent location outside the zenith. We demonstrate that including these effects can significantly alter the asymmetry predicted by the model of Alyones et. al., and we provide estimates for the most optimal image contrast enhancements for different transport parameters.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael E. Gehm Electrical and Computer Engineering