Optical parameters testing to redefine visibility for low cost transmissometer using channel modeling

Abstract With the rising standards and increasing quality of life, it has become a need to measure visibility and optical parameters for general purposes such as to predict the safe speed limit for vehicles and define the safe working conditions in factories etc. Traditional visiometers are too costly to be deployed in large numbers. However the advancement in computation technology leads to low-cost visibility measurement techniques such as calculation of different parameters that affect visibility and to create mathematical models of the channel. Modeling for visibility measurement requires proper understanding of all the optical parameters of a given entity. Also, measurement of a single parameter using low-cost data acquisition system and electronic components is insufficient to define visibility. Different paradigms need to be examined in order to unmask all the aspects of the entity under consideration. Many efforts have been made to study factors influencing visibility but they encountered various problems during measurements in real time. So to parameterize different characteristics of the medium, a technique is proposed which can be implemented in real time. The objective of this work is to list the various parameters whose value can be added according to the need for low-cost visibility measurement. The indexed parameters are unaccustomed to the literature of optical density and visibility measurement. Furthermore, the paper contains description of the system, principle of its operation and some results of the field test conducted for the purpose.