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The vertical variations in atmospheric light attenuation under ambient conditions were identified, and a method through which aerial photographs of earth features might be corrected to yield quantitative information about the actual features was provided. A theoretical equation was developed based on the Bouguer-Lambert extinction law and basic photographic theory.
The contribution of inelastic molecular scattering (Rayleigh-Brillouin and rotational Raman scattering) to the filling-in of Fraunhofer lines in the light of the blue sky is studied. Aerosol fluorescence is shown to be negligible, and aerosol scattering is ignored. The angular and polarization dependences of the filling-in detail for single scattering are discussed. An approximate treatment of multiple scattering, using a backward Monte Carlo technique, makes it possible to investigate the effects of the ground albedo. As the molecular scatterings alone produce more line-filling than is observed, it seems likely that aerosols dilute the effect by contributing unaltered sunlight to the observed spectra.
The paper considers three complementary inverse multiple scattering problems relating to a uniquely defined atmospheric scattering model. Consideration is given to the appropriateness, for data inversion purposes, of intensities observed in diffuse reflection under a variety of experimental conditions; the uniqueness of the inverse solution is investigated. It is found that light curves representing monotonic variations, such as limb darkening curves and phase curves for a planetary (e.g., Venus) disk center are unsuitable for inferring atmospheric and scattering parameters.
Calculations of the multiple-scattered solar radiation in the earth's atmosphere are compared with telephotometer measurements of the sky intensity obtained during the EPA-sponsored Visibility Impairment by Sulfate Transport and Transformation in the Atmosphere experiment. The doubling and adding calculation technique, in which the reflection and transmission properties of the atmosphere are computed by initially calculating such properties for the case of very thin layers and then adding adjacent layers together, is described and compared with data for two cloudless sky conditions. The first is typical of clean tropospheric conditions, and the second represents an ultraclean atmosphere in which surface aerosol scattering is much lower than molecular scattering. Good agreement is found between the computations and the measurement data.
Iterative techniques for calculating multiple scattering in planetary atmospheres
Interpretation of multi-angle spectro-polarimetric data in remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols require fast and accurate methods of solving the vector radiative transfer equation (VRTE). The single and double scattering approximations could provide an analytical framework for the inversion algorithms and are relatively fast, however accuracy assessments of these approximations for the aerosol atmospheres in the atmospheric window channels have been missing. This paper provides such analysis for a vertically homogeneous aerosol atmosphere with weak and strong asymmetry of scattering. In both cases, the double scattering approximation gives a high accuracy result (relative error approximately 0.2%) only for the low optical path - 10(sup -2) As the error rapidly grows with optical thickness, a full VRTE solution is required for the practical remote sensing analysis. It is shown that the scattering anisotropy is not important at low optical thicknesses neither for reflected nor for transmitted polarization components of radiation.
Mars and Mercury polarization measurements, investigating Rayleigh scattering in atmospheres
An integral equation is derived which linearly relates Doppler perturbations in the spectrum of atmospheric absorption features to the wind system which creates them. The perturbation theory is developed using a single scattering model, which is validated against a multiple scattering calculation. The nature and basic properties of the kernels in the integral equation are examined. It is concluded that the kernels are well behaved and that wind velocity profiles can be recovered using standard inversion techniques.
Backscatter lidars are very useful tools in gaining information about the atmosphere. Inversion of backscatter signals can be used to retrieve the spatial distribution of clouds and aerosols, e.g., vertical extensions of clouds and aerosol layers, detection of 'subvisible' cirrus, etc., very accurately compared to passive radiometers. To retrieve extinction coefficient profiles, in general, the so-called lidar equation is solved. This equation describes a laser pulse which propagates through an atmosphere with transmission exp(- integral of sigma(z')dz'), which is scattered singly under 180 degrees towards a receiver, and which is attenuated on its way back again by exp(- integral of sigma(z')dz'). For inversion, further information on optical properties of the scatterers are required (extinction to backscatter ratio). However, it is evident that, at least for optically thick clouds and/or large receiver's field-of-views, this approach may be erroneous because of multiply scattered photons. Several studies were performed to simulate multiple scattering in case of collimated beams or pulses including Monte Carlo, transport, and diffusion theory. Unfortunately, most of the approaches require an enormous amount of computer time. Thus, it is meaningful to elaborate approximate methods, and one such method is discussed. Our method is based on Bissonnett (1988). We have improved the numerical simulation of limited field-of-view detectors, and compared the results to Monte Carlo calculations and an exact model of Altmann (1989).
Physics of planetary atmospheres - Variation method used to calculate Rayleigh scattering cross sections of helium as wavelength function
Computations of the intensity, flux, degree of polarization, and the positions of neutral points are presented for models of the terrestrial gaseous and hazy atmospheres by incorporating the molecular anisotropy due to air in the Rayleigh scattering optical thickness and phase matrix. Molecular anisotropy causes significant changes in the intensity, flux and the degree of polarization of the scattered light. The positions of neutral points do not change significantly. When the Rayleigh scattering optical thickness is kept constant and the molecular anisotropy factor is included only in the Rayleigh phase matrix, the flux does not change and the intensity and positions of neutron points change by a small amount. The changes in the degree of polarization are still significant.
Light scattering in planetary atmosphere
We report numerical results for polarized light reflection from the top of a Rayleigh scattering spherical atmosphere with height-dependent single scattering albedo over a dark surface. Michael Mishchenko considered this scenario back in the 1990’s, for a plane-parallel atmosphere of unit optical thickness (OT), for which radiance errors arising from neglecting polarization reaches their highest values. To further extend Mishchenko’s results, we consider a value of OT = 0.25, for which the effect of atmospheric curvature is pronounced. New results are generated using three state-of-the art radiative transfer (RT) codes. These are: the MYSTIC and MCSSA models, which simulate light scattering in a true- spherical atmosphere using Monte Carlo methods; and the discrete ordinate code VLIDORT, operating with a new multiple-scatter spherical correction designed to deliver reasonable approximations to spherical-medium scattering. In this work, we report results for both single and multiple scattering; this will help to support the validation of existing and future polarized spherical RT codes, especially those using approximative methods to deal with sphericity.
Multiple light scattering solutions accuracy by diffraction peak omission from cloud and haze analytic phase functions compared for optically thick and thin planetary atmospheres
The main thrust of the program was the study of stimulated Raman processes for application to atmospheric lidar measurements. This has involved the development of tunable lasers, the detailed study of stimulated Raman scattering, and the use of the Raman-shifted light for new measurements of molecular line strengths and line widths. The principal spectral region explored in this work was the visible and near-IR wavelengths between 500 nm and 1.5 microns. Recent alexandrite ring laser experiments are reported. The experiments involved diode injection-locking, Raman shifting, and frequency-doubling. The experiments succeeded in producing tunable light at 577 and 937 nm with line widths in the range 80-160 MHz.
Detection of scattering layers in upper atmosphere by optical radar
The decay processes of the plasma layers generated by two intersecting microwave pulses in 1 torr dry air are investigated by Bragg scattering method. The results of measurement show that the electrons decay initially at the three-body attachment rate. However, when enough negative molecule ions are produced through the electron attachment process, the regeneration of electrons via detachment process is increased and eventually balances out the electron attachment loss. The net electron loss is then dominated by the recombination process. The temporal evolution of electron density has also been reproduced by the numerical result of a system of three modal equations for a best fit detachment rate.
Specular reflection effect at ground on light scattering from Rayleigh atmosphere