Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Simulating coronas in color

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

Coronas are simulated in color by use of the Mie scattering theory of light by small droplets through clouds of finite optical thickness embedded in a Rayleigh scattering atmosphere. The primary factors that affect color, visibility, and number of rings of coronas are droplet size, width of the size distribution, and cloud optical thickness. The color sequence of coronas and iridescence varies when the droplet radius is smaller than ∼6-μm. As radius increases to approximately 3.5 μm, new color bands appear at the center of the corona and fade as they move outward. As the radius continues to increase to ∼6 μm, successively more inner rings become fixed in the manner described by classical diffraction theory, while outer rings continue their outward migration. Wave clouds or rippled cloud segments produce the brightest and most vivid multiple ringed coronas and iridescence because their integrated drop size distributions along sunbeams are much narrower than in convective or stratiform clouds. The visibility of coronas and the appearance of the background sky vary with cloud optical depth τ. First the corona becomes visible as a white aureole in a blue sky when τ ∼ 0.001. Color purity then rapidly increases to an almost flat maximum in the range 0.05 ≤ τ ≤ 0.5 and then decreases, so coronas are almost completely washed out by a bright gray background when τ ≥ 4.

© 2003 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Simulating halos and coronas in their atmospheric environment

Stanley David Gedzelman
Appl. Opt. 47(34) H157-H166 (2008)

Simulating glories and cloudbows in color

Stanley D. Gedzelman
Appl. Opt. 42(3) 429-435 (2003)

Coronas and iridescence in mountain wave clouds

Joseph A. Shaw and Paul J. Neiman
Appl. Opt. 42(3) 476-485 (2003)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (12)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved