Automatic gonio-spectrophotometer for the absolute measurement of the spectral BRDF at in- out-of-plane and retroreflection geometries

This paper presents the description and the characterization of the gonio-spectrophotometer GEFE (the acronym for 'Gonio-EspectroFotómetro Español'). This device has been designed and built for the low-uncertainty absolute measurement of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). It comprises a fixed, collimated and uniform light source, a six-axis robot-arm to rotate the sample and a spectroradiometer that may revolve around the sample to be able to vary the source-to-detector angular separation. This gonio-spectrophotometer makes it possible to perform spectral measurements in the visible range, both inside and outside the incidence plane, as well as measurements in retroreflection conditions. This fully automated system is able to measure autonomously a sample's complete spectral BRDF (comprising around 1000 different angular configurations) in less than 4 h.