An Analytical Model for Skylight Polarization

Under certain circumstances the polarisation state of the illumination can have a significant influence on the appearance of scenes; outdoor scenes with specular surfaces – such as water bodies or windows – under clear, blue skies are good examples of such environments. In cases like that it can be essential to use a polarising renderer if a true prediction of nature is intended, but so far no polarising skylight models have been presented. This paper presents a plausible analytical model for the polarisation of the light emitted from a clear sky. Our approach is based on a suitable combination of several components with well-known characteristics, and yields acceptable results in considerably less time than an exhaustive simulation of the underlying atmospheric scattering phenomena would require.