Efficient technique to determine backscattered light power for various atmospheric and oceanic sounding and imaging systems

A new technique that efficiently simplifies the estimations of backscattered Light power is presented. This technique allows one to consider real inhomogeneous scattering media with an underlying surface and to account for all the features both of media phase functions and of the reflection of underlying surfaces. It is assumed that the phase function has a sharp forward peak. Different sounding, vision, and location systems can be considered. The image transfer equation is derived for any observed object, including three-dimensional and non-Lambertian objects. A few examples of the successful use of the developed approach to solve various problems are given. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.