Patent ID: 6122404
Filing Date: 2000-09-19
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
An imaging system for generating polarimetric images of a scene, said system comprising:an input lens, said input lens receiving reflected input radiation from the scene and providing an image of the scene;an optical assembly, said optical assembly receiving the input radiation from the input lens, said optical assembly separating the input radiation into at least four separate output radiation beams, each of the four output beams being of substantially the same intensity where each beam includes radiation representative of the entire scene;at least four polarimetric filters, a separate polarimetric filter receiving each of the output beams from the optical assembly, a first of the polarimetric filters passing plane polarized light in a first one of the output beams, a second of the polarimetric filters passing vertically polarized light in a second one of the output beams, a third of the polarimetric filters passing circularly polarized light in a third one of the output beams, andat least four imaging devices, a separate one of the imaging devices receiving each one of the output beams from the four polarimetric filters, said imaging devices separately generating electrical signals indicative of output images of the entire scene; anda controller, said controller receiving the electrical signals from the imaging devices and providing output information of the state of polarization of the radiation reflected from the scene.