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Optical Measurements and Advanced Coatings for Space Applications

September 22, 2024

For over 45 years, Surface Optics has partnered with the world’s leading aerospace innovators, providing precise measurement instrumentation, comprehensive lab services, and specialized thin-film coatings. From optical property characterization in our state-of-the-art lab to portable reflectometers for on-site testing, Surface Optics offers effective products and services for validating thermal control parameters for spacecraft materials. Learn […]

BSDF, BRDF and BTDF – A Review of Measurement Approaches

September 11, 2024

What is BSDF? Light illuminating a surface may be reflected, transmitted or absorbed. The patterns of that interaction encode information about surface shape, material composition and structure. The quantitative representation of these patterns is the Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function (BSDF). BSDF radiometrically characterizes the scatter of optical radiation from and through a surface interface as a […]

Revolutionizing Optical Responses: Reflectance Measurements for Metasurface Wafer Technology

August 1, 2024

As we push the envelope to devise creative solutions to global problems, researchers have concentrated their efforts on the emerging field of metasurfaces. A metasurface is an engineered two-dimensional material designed to manipulate electromagnetic waves, such as light, in ways that are not possible with natural materials. These surfaces consist of arrays of subwavelength structures, […]

Solar Reflectance & SRI Measurements for LEED

July 11, 2024

Building designers and developers that are pursuing the Heat island reduction credit for LEED certification require documentation of the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) for their project’s roofing materials, shade giving structures, and paving materials. Under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED 2009 rating system, credits SSc7.1 and SSc7.2 (combined as credit SSc5 in LEED v4) […]

Precision Agriculture and Hyperspectral Sensors: Monitoring Against Drought, Disease, and Nutrient Stress

July 9, 2024

Crop monitoring for nutrients, water-stress, disease, insect attack and overall plant health is a vital aspect of successful agricultural operations. Traditionally this has been carried out by visual examination of crops on the ground or sometimes from the air. However these methods are limited by the ability of the human eye to discriminate between healthy […]

2024 Summer Family Party

Our Surface Optics summer family party was a blast, filled with live music, laughter, delicious food, and the joy of coming together. These moments showcase the strength of our team, bringing together veteran SOCers and new members alike. Want to join the crew? We’re hiring! Check out our current openings here: SOC Job Listings

Important Specifications for Hyperspectral Cameras

June 19, 2024

Hyperspectral imaging is a powerful tool in applied spectroscopy. Hyperspectral cameras measure light from a scene in hundreds of contiguous spectral bands. A two-dimensional image is created, where each pixel contains a full spectrum. Here we discuss the most important specifications for hyperspectral imaging cameras, and how they relate to various applications. Spectral Range The […]

Specular vs Diffuse Reflectance Measurements

August 28, 2023

In the context of reflectance measurements, the specular and diffuse components refer to different ways in which light interacts with a surface and is reflected or scattered. Specular Reflection Specular reflection refers to the mirror-like reflection of light from a surface. When light hits a smooth and polished surface, such as a glass mirror or […]

A Quick Guide to Hyperspectral Camera Specifications

March 9, 2023

Hyperspectral imaging is a powerful technique that enables the capture of images at a very high spectral resolution. Here is a quick guide to some of the key specifications to consider when selecting a hyperspectral imaging system: Spectral range: The spectral range of a hyperspectral imaging system refers to the range of wavelengths of light […]

Hyperspectral Imaging in Art Conservation

February 8, 2022

The need to conserve art has a long history, back to the time when people first realized that the art objects they treasured had begun to deteriorate. In the nineteenth century science and art first began to meet, with scientists of that time looking for methods to preserve valuable works of art. Of course today […]