Iterative inverse radiative transfer method to estimate optical thickness and surface albedo

Abstract

Abstract An iterative algorithm is proposed for simultaneously estimating the optical thickness of a homogeneous, plane-parallel medium and the albedo of an obscured underlying surface. Only remote measurements outside the medium are required of the ingoing and outgoing radiance. The method incorporates analytically-computed first derivatives of the unknowns that are obtained from the Fn method of transport theory. The ill-posed nature of the problem is quantified in terms of sensitivity coefficients.