Sensitivity study of a polarization imaging-based target detection system

Polarization detection has become a useful complement to traditional optical detection techniques because of its robustness to ambient disturbances. However the uncertainties of sensitive factors such as observation geometry and imaging band limit the practical use of polarization imaging in target detection. To study its sensitivity, two target detection experiments of stealth and camouflage tank models under sand and grass background are conducted. Results show that, the Q component calculated by the differential operation of 0° and 90° polarized images provides the largest polarization contrast between target and background than other components. Finally the optimal configuration of polarization imaging-based target detection system is determined and verified by measuring polarization contrast of Q component under different azimuth and inclination of light source and camera, as well as four imaging bands within visible spectrum.