Multiple path analysis of reflectance from turbid media

J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis. 2008 Nov;25(11):2879-83. doi: 10.1364/josaa.25.002879.

Abstract

A novel method to calculate the reflectance of light from a turbid medium is presented. The method takes an approach similar to that of the Beer-Lambert law, where the intensity of light is attenuated by an exponential factor involving the path length and the absorption coefficient. Due to scatter, however, there are many path lengths; in the present method all possible path lengths are weighted by their probabilities and summed over. A path length probability density is derived by considering a photon random walk through the medium. The result is a simple expression for the reflectance based on the physical properties of the medium.