The opposition effect and its relationship to sediment density in BRDF measurements from the Algodones Sand Dunes System

Density, particle size distribution, surface moisture, and mineral content are some important geophysical properties that affect the bi-directional reflectance factor (BRF) of particulate media such as sand. According to radiative transfer theory, several of these geophysical properties are known to directly affect the overall level of reflectance, as well as the functional form of the opposition effect, for homogeneous, particulate media.(1) Most sands are composite, i.e. non-homogeneous, and do not follow the standard distributions (with approximate analytical solutions) for particle size. Therefore, conventional radiative transfer models need to be modified to account for the complex nature of sand. In this work, we examine the impact of density on the functional form of the opposition effect, and we show that differences in density are expressed in a characteristic way. The measurements are collected using the laboratory and field-deployable Goniometer of the Rochester Institute of Technology-Two (GRIT-T). And, the results are based on sediment samples collected from the Algodones Sand Dunes System in southeastern California during the NASA Algodones Dunes Field Experiment conducted in March 2015.