Statistical concepts in radiative transfer through inhomogeneous media

Abstract

The theory of radiative transfer in inhomogeneous media is extended to handle transfer for scale lengths small compared to the scale size of the inhomogeneity. This is called the microscopic domain of inhomogeneous radiative transfer. A concept called the vector intensity distribution is introduced to characterize the statistical properties of radiation in various species of medium. Radiative transfer in an inhomogeneous atmosphere is expressed in terms of the evolution of this vector intensity distribution and its various moments along the optical path.