The polarimetric characteristics of a class of hyperspectral radiometers commonly applied for above-water radiometry have been investigated by analyzing a sample of sensors. Results indicate polarization sensitivity increasing with wavelength and exhibiting values varying from sensor to sensor. In the case of radiance sensors, the maximum differences increase from approximately 0.4% at 400 nm to 1.3% at 750 nm. In the case of irradiance sensors, due to depolarizing effects of the diffusing collector, the maximum differences between horizontal and vertical polarization sensitivities vary from approximately 0.3% at 400 nm to 0.6% at 750 nm. Application of the previous results to above-water radiometry measurements performed in sediment dominated waters indicates that neglecting polarization effects may lead to uncertainties not exceeding a few tenths of a percent in remote sensing reflectance R-RS determined in the 400-570 nm spectral interval. Conversely, uncertainties spectrally increase toward the near infrared, reaching several percent at 750 nm in the case of oligotrophic waters. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America
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