Characterization and correction of stray light in optical instruments

Improperly imaged, or scattered, optical radiation within an instrument is difficult to properly characterize and is often the dominant residual source of measurement error. Scattered light can originate from the spectral components of a "point" source and from spatial elements of an extended source. The spectral and spatial scattered light components are commonly referred to as stray light and can be described by an instrument's spectral line spread function (SLSF) and point spread function (PSF), respectively. In this paper, we present approaches that characterize an instrument's response to scattered light and describe matrices that have been developed to correct an instrument's response for this scattered light. Examples are given to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach and implications for remote sensing instruments are discussed.