Abstract

A simple inversion technique in the single scattering regime has been developed to deduce cloud droplet size parameters by using the measurement of the radiance of near-forward scattered solar radiation as a function of angle. Compared with the numerical inversion technique that uses exact Mie scattering calculations, the new technique is much less time-consuming and hence should be usable in an on-line real time analysis. To test the effectiveness of the new technique, we use the results of polydispersed cloud size distribution calculated by Deirmendjian to retrieve the model size parameters. The agreement is excellent. We also generalize the theory to include the broadband source. A typical experimental example is given. Its comparison with time-consuming Mie scattering inversion technique again shows excellent agreement.

© 1981 Optical Society of America

Experimental validation of the solar aureole technique for determining aerosol size distributions

A. Deepak, G. P. Box, and M. A. Box
Appl. Opt. 21(12) 2236-2243 (1982)

Inversion techniques for determining the droplet size distribution in clouds: numerical examination

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Finite sun effect on the interpretation of solar aureole

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Retrieval of aerosol size distributions by inversion of simulated aureole data in the presence of multiple scattering

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