Patent ID: 7227638

Claim:
A method of obtaining accurate scene measurement data from a polarimeter during a mobile polarimetric imaging operation, comprising steps of: a) providing a polarimeter and calibrator at a first location of a scene to be imaged; b) obtaining at least one calibration data set of the first location according to at least one radiance sample obtained in the calibrator from the first location of the scene; c) obtaining at least one radiance sample in the polarimeter directly from the first location of the scene for producing scene measurement data of the first location of the scene; d) moving the polarimeter and calibrator to a second location of the scene to be imaged; e) obtaining at least one calibration data set of the second location according to at least one radiance sample obtained in the calibrator from the second location of the scene; f) obtaining at least one radiance sample in the polarimeter directly from the second location of the scene for calculating scene measurement data of the second location of the scene; g) repeating steps d) through f) for subsequent locations of the scene until the entire scene to be imaged has been covered; and h) outputting a polarization magnitude scaling factor based on the calibration data sets of the first, second, and subsequent locations of the scene.