title: Radiative transfer calculations for characterizing obscured surfaces using time-dependent backscattered pulses.
abstract: Numerical calculations for estimating the albedo of a surface and its distance behind an obscuring multiplescattering atmosphere are performed for the idealized case of an instantaneous pulse uniformly illuminating a plane-geometry atmosphere of known properties. This inverse problem is complicated by the fact that the backscattered irradiance is broadened in time because of purely geometric effects arising from the geometry considered; the broadening increases with an increasing thickness of the obscuring medium and if the medium scatters in a more isotropic manner, such as with Rayleigh scattering. Isocline maps of different observables suggest that graphical inversion maps might be useful for some applications of this type.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duracz
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: McCormick