Estimation of errors in partial Mueller matrix polarimeter calibration

While active polarimeters have been shown to be successful at improving discriminability of the targets of interest from their background in a wide range of applications, their use can be problematic for cases with strong bandwidth constraints. In order to limit the number of performed measurements, a number of successive studies have developed the concept of partial Mueller matrix polarimeters (pMMPs) into a competitive solution. Like all systems, pMMPs need to be calibrated in order to yield accurate results. In this treatment we provide a method by which to select a limited number of reference objects to calibrate a given pMMP design. To demonstrate the efficacy of the approach, we apply the method to a sample system and show that, depending on the kind of errors present within the system, a significantly reduced number of reference objects measurements will suffice for accurate characterization of the errors.