Design and analysis of a depolarizer for the NASA moderate resolution imaging spectrometer-tilt (MODIS-T)

The design and analysis of a depolarizer for the NASA MODIS-T spectrometer is presented. The theory of spatial pseudodepolarizer operation and its effect on linear polarization sensitivity is described. Details of the HV depolarizer design and issues of depolarizer location and material are discussed. The image doubling and aberrations induced by the depolarizer and the trade-offs between increased polarization performance and decreased image quality are also addressed. The issues considered apply directly to depolarizer design for other remote sensing instruments.