Data Driven Investigation into the Off-Axis BRDF to Develop an Algorithm to Classify Anisotropicity

Author

Anne W. Werkley

Date of Award

3-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Applied Physics

Department

Department of Engineering Physics

First Advisor

Samuel D. Butler, PhD

Abstract

The Bi-directional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) is used to describe reflectances of materials by calculating the ratio of the reflected radiance to the incident irradiance. While it was found that isotropic BRDF microfacet models maintained symmetry about ɸ_s = π, such symmetry was not maintained about the θ_s = θ_i axis, except for close to the specular peak. This led to development of a novel data-driven metric for how isotropic a BRDF measurement is. Research efforts centered around developing an algorithm that could determine material anisotropy without having to fit to models. The algorithm developed here successfully classified the degree of anisotropicity in 4 out of 5 samples.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENP-MS-21-M-140

DTIC Accession Number

AD1145758

Recommended Citation

Werkley, Anne W., "Data Driven Investigation into the Off-Axis BRDF to Develop an Algorithm to Classify Anisotropicity" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 5025.
https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/5025