Use of a Wide Angle CCD Line Camera for BRDF Measurements

Abstract

In order to determine the Bi-directional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)of natural surfaces a CCD line camera is used. This allows measurements under natural conditions with a high azimuth and zenith angular resolution in a short time. The CCD line spans a field of view of 80° as the zenith angle range. For covering the azimuth range, the camera is mounted on a rotating device and an extendible boom provides an aerial platform. This set up allows the measurement of the [almost] complete reflectance distribution of the surface below the camera for the 30-s rotation period of the camera. The camera used for this set up is the wide angle airborne camera (WAAC), which was developed at the DLR for airborne stereo imaging purposes. This paper presents the radiometric calibration of the system and shows the initial results of our approach in measuring the BRDF with high angular resolution for a short period. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.