Fully automated laboratory and field-portable goniometer used for performing accurate and precise multiangular reflectance measurements

Justin D. Harms; Charles M. Bachmann; Brittany L. Ambeau; Jason W. Faulring; Andres J. Ruiz Torres; Gregory Badura; Emily Myers

doi:10.1117/1.JRS.11.046014

24 November 2017 Fully automated laboratory and field-portable goniometer used for performing accurate and precise multiangular reflectance measurements

Justin D. Harms, Charles M. Bachmann, Brittany L. Ambeau, Jason W. Faulring, Andres J. Ruiz Torres, Gregory Badura, Emily Myers

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Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, Vol. 11, Issue 4, 046014 (November 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.11.046014

Abstract

Field-portable goniometers are created for a wide variety of applications. Many of these applications require specific types of instruments and measurement schemes and must operate in challenging environments. Therefore, designs are based on the requirements that are specific to the application. We present a field-portable goniometer that was designed for measuring the hemispherical-conical reflectance factor (HCRF) of various soils and low-growing vegetation in austere coastal and desert environments and biconical reflectance factors in laboratory settings. Unlike some goniometers, this system features a requirement for “target-plane tracking” to ensure that measurements can be collected on sloped surfaces, without compromising angular accuracy. The system also features a second upward-looking spectrometer to measure the spatially dependent incoming illumination, an integrated software package to provide full automation, an automated leveling system to ensure a standard frame of reference, a design that minimizes the obscuration due to self-shading to measure the opposition effect, and the ability to record a digital elevation model of the target region. This fully automated and highly mobile system obtains accurate and precise measurements of HCRF in a wide variety of terrain and in less time than most other systems while not sacrificing consistency or repeatability in laboratory environments.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Justin D. Harms, Charles M. Bachmann, Brittany L. Ambeau, Jason W. Faulring, Andres J. Ruiz Torres, Gregory Badura, and Emily Myers "Fully automated laboratory and field-portable goniometer used for performing accurate and precise multiangular reflectance measurements," Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 11(4), 046014 (24 November 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.11.046014

Received: 9 March 2017; Accepted: 7 November 2017; Published: 24 November 2017

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