An imaging polarimeter for sensing of aerosol scattering and other atmospheric phenomena has been constructed and tested. The instrument is a testbed for a multispectral system architecture, in which spectral channels are added in a modular fashion using dichroic beamspltters and dedicated detectors. The testbed operates in a pushbroom scanning mode, with two co-boresighted optical trains. Each optical train features a narrow-band filter, an intermediate image at a slit, collimating optics, an appropriately oriented Wollaston prism, and two linear detector arrays. Consequently, the testbed is capable of determining the first three Stoke components (linear polarization) at a single wavelength. We describe calibration and field testing and present preliminary data analysis results.
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