Degree of radiance and polarization of the upwelling radiation from an atmosphere-ocean system

The radiance and degree of linear polarization of the upward radiation emerging from the top of the terrestrial atmosphere bounded by a ruffled ocean surface are computed in the wavelength region ranging from 0.40 to 0.80 microm with the aid of the adding method. The ruffled ocean surface is treated as an interacting interface, where the radiation transmitted diffusely from below the ocean surface into the atmosphere is also taken into account. Computational results show that the simultaneous measurement of radiance and polarization degree from space makes it possible to derive atmospheric and oceanic parameters.