Abstract:The polarization characteristics of a camouflage material in the direction of specular reflection are tested by using a multispectral polarization CCD camera in visible and infrared wavebands. The polarization characteristics of a camouflage material with rough sufaces are studied under different incident conditions and the polarization spectrum of the material is obtained. In the direction of specular reflection, high linear polarization is exhibited at the surfaces of the camouflage material and very low linear polarization is exhibited against the meadow background. The polarimetric scattering at the rough surfaces are analyzed by using Kirchhoffs scattering theory. The analysis result is in agreement with the measured polarization spectrum. Since the polarization scattering spectrum of the camouflage material is different from that of the background, the use of polarization information in imaging is very helpful to the identification of targets against complex background. Polarization remote sensing is of important value to the detection of camouflaged military targets.