Attenuation of Photographic Contrast by the Atmosphere

Abstract

The quality of aerial photography is seriously reduced by the effects of the turbid atmosphere. One important effect is the reduction in photographic image contrast, which can render a target indistinguishable from the background or decrease the resolution capability of a photographic system. The problem of atmospheric contrast reduction has been studied previously but primarily for horizontal paths at ground level and little was done in these studies to correlate atmospheric turbidity with meteorological conditions.The purpose of this experiment was to obtain data from which a correlation could be derived between atmospheric turbidity as it effects aerial photography and atmospheric meteorological conditions.The phenomenon of contrast reduction is briefly described. The experimental procedure is presented along with a description of the equipment used. A typical set of results and a summary of the results of 27 experiments are presented.