Conclusion

The development of polarimetric imaging sensors began in the 1980s, in parallel with that of digital cameras and optoelectronic components. This made it possible to develop sensors that analyze a polarization state pixel by pixel. This sparked renewed interest in the Stokes/Mueller formalism, which is naturally suited to the measurement of a polarization state using sensors originally designed to measure intensity.

As a polarimetric camera by its very nature provides multidimensional data, the problems associated with calibrating these sensors and processing the images obtained are the subject of active research.

The potential of polarimetric images is being exploited in fields as diverse as remote sensing, medicine and manufacturing. The benefits are both in the possibility of accessing quantities impossible to obtain from the intensity...