Ring Effect Studies: Rayleigh Scattering, including Molecular Parameters for Rotational Raman Scattering, and the Faunhofer Spectrum

Abstract

Improved parameters for the description of Rayleigh scattering in air and for the detailed rotational Raman scattering component for scattering by O2 and N2 are presented for the wavelength range 200-1000 nm. These parameters enable more accurate calculations of bulk molecular scattering and of the 'Ring effect' for a variety of atmospheric radiative transfer and constituent retrieval applications. A solar reference spectrum with accurate absolute vacuum wavelength calibration, suitable for convolution with the rotational Raman spectrum for Ring effect calculations, has been produced and is briefly described. The solar-rotational Raman convolved product is available for fitting of atmospheric spectra.