title: Invariants of polarization transformations.
abstract: The use of polarization-sensitive sensors is being explored in a variety of applications. Polarization diversity has been shown to improve the performance of the automatic target detection and recognition in a significant way. However, it also brings out the problems associated with processing and storing more data and the problem of polarization distortion during transmission. We present a technique for extracting attributes that are invariant under polarization transformations. The polarimetric signatures are represented in terms of the components of the Stokes vectors. Invariant algebra is then used to extract a set of signature-related attributes that are invariant under linear transformation of the Stokes vectors. Experimental results using polarimetric infrared signatures of a number of manmade and natural objects undergoing systematic linear transformations support the invariancy of these attributes.
authors.affiliation: Lockheed Martin Corporation, 3400 Highcrest Road, Saint Anthony, Minnesota 55418, USA. firooz.sadjadi@ieee.org
authors.forename: Firooz A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Sadjadi