Real-time imaging spectropolarimeter based on an optical modulator

An imaging spectropolarimeter for measuring polarization of an electromagnetic signal, comprising:

• an objective optic for receiving an electromagnetic signal;
• a modulator optically connected with the objective optic for modulating the electromagnetic signal whereby a modulated electromagnetic signal results wherein the amplitude of each frequency component of the modulated electromagnetic signal is a function of the particular polarization state of each frequency component of the electromagnetic signal;
• a linear polarizer configured to pass a single polarization of the modulated electromagnetic signal through an output thereof;
• a tunable filter optically connected to receive the single polarization of the electromagnetic signal and being tunable through a frequency spectrum, the tunable filter being configured to output a plurality of electromagnetic signal samples at predetermined frequency increments;
• a focal plane array comprising a plurality of pixels and being configured to receive each electromagnetic signal sample and output a spectrum signal for each pixel on the focal plane array;
• and
• a processor configured to apply Fourier transformation to the spectrum signal to obtain at least one Stokes polarization vector component for each pixel in the focal plane array.