Review of polarization imaging for international military application

Polarization is a primary characteristic of electromagnetic wave. Polarization is another field of the light except the intensity, wavelength, and coherence. Polarization can indicate the different attributions that decided by objects, such as surface features, roughness, shading, shape and so on. Polarization Imaging is a useful complement to traditional intensity and spectral imaging methods with great potential in many application fields. In the future war, the advantages of polarization are significant for target detection and recognition in the increasingly complicated battlefield environment. In this paper, the research progress is generally introduced in military application in four fields: 1) target polarization characteristics and simulationenhance contrast, distinguish the target and background; 2) polarization transmission characteristics- observe target through the smoke and fog of War; 3) polarization imaging detection methods- improve the imaging quality, enhance the information available; 4) polarization image processing- improve detection and tracking performance.