Ray tracing, combined with ideal retroreflection and mathematical simulation methods, has been used to design aerial imaging systems based on retroreflection. Although aerial images are blurred and have lower brightness than the light source, existing simulation methods do not focus on the appearance of these characteristics. In this study, we propose a computer graphics (CG)-based simulation using the ray tracing method to generate CG renditions of aerial images with reproduced luminance and blurring. CG models of three optical elements (light source, half-mirror, and retroreflector) were created on the basis of existing optical element models to simulate aerial images obtained through retroreflection in aerial imaging systems. By measuring the image formation positioning, we determined that the rendered aerial images consistently formed at a plane-symmetrical position relative to the axis of the half-mirror model, with a mean absolute error of \({0.55\,\textrm{mm}}\). We also compared rendered and actual aerial images in terms of luminance and sharpness characteristics, and found that the mean absolute percentage error of luminance remained within \(0.0376\). Furthermore, the directional dependence of blur was effectively reproduced using the retroreflector bidirectional reflectance distribution function developed in this study.

光线追踪与理想的逆反射和数学模拟方法相结合，已被用来设计基于逆反射的航空成像系统。尽管航拍图像模糊且亮度低于光源，但现有的模拟方法并没有关注这些特征的出现。在本研究中，我们提出了一种基于计算机图形 (CG) 的模拟，使用光线追踪方法生成具有再现亮度和模糊效果的航空图像的 CG 再现。在现有光学元件模型的基础上创建了三种光学元件（光源、半反射镜和后向反射镜）的CG模型，以模拟航空成像系统中通过后向反射获得的航空图像。通过测量成像定位，我们确定渲染的航拍图像始终形成在相对于半透半反镜模型轴的平面对称位置，平均绝对误差为 \({0.55\,\textrm{mm} }\)。我们还比较了渲染图像和实际航拍图像的亮度和清晰度特性，发现亮度的平均绝对百分比误差保持在\(0.0376\)以内。此外，使用本研究中开发的后向反射器双向反射率分布函数可以有效地再现模糊的方向依赖性。