Date of Award
9-17-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Department of Engineering Physics
First Advisor
Michael A. Marciniak, PhD.
Abstract
The microfacet class of BRDF models is frequently used to calculate optical scatter from realistic surfaces using geometric optics, but has the disadvantage of not being able to consider wavelength dependence. This dissertation works toward development of a closed-form approximation to the BRDF that is suitable for hyperspectral remote sensing by presenting measured BRDF data of 12 different materials at four different incident angles and up to seven different wavelengths between 3.39 and 10.6 micrometer. The data was intended to be fit to various microfacet BRDF models to determine an appropriate form of the wavelength scaling. However, when fitting the microfacet models to measured data, the results indicated a breakdown in the microfacet model itself. To overcome this deficiency, elements of microfacet BRDF models are compared to elements of scalar wave optics BRDF models, which inherently contain a wavelength dependence. This analysis led to a theoretical understanding of how to modify microfacet BRDF models to maintain the simplicity of a closed-form model, while better approximating the underlying physics.
AFIT Designator
AFIT-ENP-DS-15-S-021
DTIC Accession Number
ADA626700
Recommended Citation
Butler, Samuel D., "Experimental and Theoretical Basis for a Closed-Form Spectral BRDF Model" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 219.
https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/219