SPIE - Education IR Atmospheric Propagation for Sensor Systems SC1107

This course reviews the fundamental principles and applications concerning absorption, refraction and scattering phenomena in the atmosphere that impact infrared sensor performance. Topics include an introduction to atmospheric structure, a background reviewing the basic formulas concerning the complex index of refraction, a survey of molecular absorption bands and continuum absorption, the HITRAN database, atmospheric refractivity, molecular Rayleigh scattering, particle distribution functions, Mie scattering and anomalous diffraction approximation. This background is applied to atmospheric transmittance, path radiance, imaging systems and path fluctuations with examples from field measurements. These topics are further reinforced by practical examples on atmospheric optics whenever possible. A set of contemporary references is provided.