Reflectance spectra from 400 to 750 nm were measured in Lake Kinneret, when low phytoplankton stock prevailed, with chlorophyll concentrations from 3.1 to 7.3 pg/l. Algorithms for estimation of chlorophyll (CHL) concentration were devised using reflectances in the blue and green region of the spectrum and natural solar induced fluorescence. The fluorescence was calculated either from the reflec...

We report the biomimetic artificial silicon (Si) compound eye structures for broadband and wide-angle antireflection by integrating nanostructures (NSs) into periodically patterned microstructures (p-MSs) via thermal dewetting of gold and subsequent dry etching. The truncated cone microstructures with a two-dimensional hexagonal symmetry pattern were fabricated by photolithography and dry etchi...

The variation of the directional reflectance of a vegetative canopy with azimuthal view angle becomes prominent when the canopy is illuminated by the sun at large angles from zenith. An extension of a previous directional reflectance model of vegetative canopies is presented to quantify this effect. The results indicate that the cause of the azimuthal variation can be traced to solar flux illum...

The thermo-optical properties of coated surface are important for spacecraft thermal control coatings which depend on the optical properties and structure of the coating material. These coatings control the temperature by their capability of outer energy absorption and its emission. The optical properties of pigment can be improved if the pigment contains a high fraction of voids in its structu...

Studies of the spectral reflectance of the eggs of 25 species of birds from nine families disclosed uniformly high reflectance (often above 90 percent) in the near infrared. This property is associated with the presence of the eggshell pigments protoporphyrin and the bilins. These pigments allow coloration for cryptic or other purposes with minimum solar heating, a combination not possible with...

Although, that the solar energy is important for life continuity, there is need to protect large buildings from these radiations in summer and if the buildings are permitted to take these radiations, the cost of cooling will be too much. One of the most effective methods used to solve this problem is to coat buildings with specific pigments that reflect the solar infrared radiation. This wo...

[1] The impact of smoke aerosols generated from biomass burning activities in Southeast Asia on the total (i.e., direct and indirect effects) reflected solar and emitted thermal radiation from clouds was investigated using satellite data. We combine narrowband radiance measurements, from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths (e.g., SeaWiFS and TOMS), with broadband irradiance measurements (e...

The top-of-atmosphere spectral reflectance measured by SCIAMACHY has been validated by comparisons between calibrated SCIAMACHY V6 Level 1 data and corresponding reflectances from AATSR and MERIS. The AATSR analysis is currently restricted to part of one specifically processed orbit containing a scene over a hurricane with high and homogeneous clouds for which results for V5 data are already av...

The effects of droplet size on light scattering by polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films have been studied theoretically and experimentally. Rayleigh-Gans calculations predict that, provided the droplets scatter independently, backscattering will be maximum at wavelength ,'l when the droplet radius is about /2/7. However, correlation effects become noticeable for droplet volume fraction...

A non-vacuum processing method for preparing polymer-based ZrO2/TiO2 multilayer structure antireflection coating (ARC) films for crystalline silicon solar cells by spin coating is introduced. Initially, ZrO2, TiO2 and surface deactivated-TiO2 (SD-TiO2) based films were examined separately and the effect of photocatalytic properties of TiO2 film on the reflectivity on silicon surface was investi...