Visual Illusions: Their Causes, Characteristics and ApplicationsLuckiesh, Matthew
Science
Visual Illusions: Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications
Luckiesh, Matthew
Optical illusions
Before considering other aspects of camouflage it is well to consider such
features as haze, clouds and sky. There appear to be two kinds of haze
which the writer will arbitrarily call earth and high haze, respectively.
The former consists chiefly of dust and smoke and usually extends to an
altitude of about one mile, although it occasionally extends much higher.
Its upper limit is very distinct, as seen by the "false" horizon. This
horizon is used more by the pilot when flying at certain altitudes than
the true horizon. At the top of this haze cumulus clouds are commonly seen
to be poking out like nearly submerged icebergs. The upper haze appears
somewhat whiter in color and appears to extend sometimes to altitudes of
several or even many miles. The fact that the "earth" haze may be seen to
end usually at about 5000 to 6000 feet and the upper haze to persist even
beyond 20,000 feet has led the author to apply different names for
convenience. The upper limit of the "earth" haze is determined by the
height of diurnal atmospheric convection. Haze aids in lowering the
visibility of airplanes by providing a luminous veil, but it also operates
at some altitudes to increase the brightness of the sky, which is the
background in this case.
The sky generally decreases considerably in brightness as the observer
ascends. The brightness of the sky is due to scattered light, that is, to
light being reflected by particles of dust, smoke, thinly diffused clouds,
etc. By making a series of measurements of the brightness of the zenith
sky for various altitudes, the altitude where the earth haze ends is
usually plainly distinguishable. Many observations of this character were
accumulated. In some extreme cases the sky was found to be only one-tenth
as bright when observed at high altitudes of 15,000 to 20,000 feet as seen
from the earth's surface. This accounts partly for the decrease in the
visibility of an airplane as it ascends. At 20,000 feet the sky was found
to contribute as little as 4 per cent of the total light on a horizontal
plane and the extreme harshness of the lighting is very noticeable when
the upper sky is cloudless and clear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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