Abstract
The variation of the radiance of a rough surface with respect to the angle between the observer and the optical axes, is investigated. It is experimentally shown that the polar radiance distribution arising from coherently illuminated rough surfaces varies more than the distribution arising from incoherently rough surfaces. The results show that the image radiances of surfaces of different roughness are critically dependent upon the degree of coherence relative to the scale of the surface roughness for a fixed observer. The differences of the radiation-field patterns for a given surface when illuminated by coherent and incoherent light are demonstrated. Both reflection and transmission experiments are described.
© 1966 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Philip S. Considine
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(8) 1001-1009 (1966)
K. E. Torrance, E. M. Sparrow, and R. C. Birkebak
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(7) 916-925 (1966)
M. Lurie
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(10) 1369-1372 (1966)