Vol. 5, issue 08, article # 4

Abstract:

The contrast of the objects observed through the clouds is calculated on the basis of the values of transmission and albedo of the plane cloud layer obtained by the Monte Carlo method. It is shown that the large (several kilometers) high–contrast objects can be seen through the continuous cloud layer of optical depths τ≤10 while the small (less than 100 m) objects can be seen only through the thin upper clouds. The possibility of the observation through the clouds is evaluated by means of an active pulsed vision system. It is possible to observe the large objects from an altitude of 100km through the clouds at τ≈30 given that the power of radiation is about 5 MW.