Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published July 20, 1997 | public
Journal Article Open

Polarized light scattering by aerosols in the marine atmospheric boundary layer

Abstract

The intensity and polarization of light scattered from marine aerosols affect visibility and contrast in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). The polarization properties of scattered light in the MABL vary with size, refractive index, number distributions, and environmental conditions. Laboratory measurements were used to determine the characteristics and variability of the polarization of light scattered by aerosols similar to those in the MABL. Scattering from laboratory-generated sea-salt-containing (SSC) [NaCl, (NH4)2SO4, and seawater] components of marine aerosols was measured with a scanning polarization-modulated nephelometer. Mie theory with Gaussian and log normal size distributions of spheres was used to calculate the polarized light scattering from various aerosol composition models and from experimentally determined distributions of aerosols in the marine boundary layer. The modeling was verified by comparison with scattering from distilled water aerosols. The study suggests that polarimetric techniques can be used to enhance techniques for improving visibility and remote imaging for various aerosol types, Sun angles, and viewing conditions.

Additional Information

© 1997 Optical Society of America Received 9 September 1996; revised manuscript received 10 February 1997. We wish to thank Steve Ackleson for his support and interest in this research. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under contract N00014-94-F0043 through the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC03-765f00098. L. L. Erskine also wishes to thank the California Institute of Technology for partial support from a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Files

QUIao97.pdf
Files (589.8 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:4df2293167edfbf1102a3b7ca20621c9
589.8 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 13, 2023