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Non‐spherical aerosol retrieval method employing light scattering by spheroids
Author(s) -
Dubovik O.,
Holben B. N.,
Lapyonok T.,
Sinyuk A.,
Mishchenko M. I.,
Yang P.,
Slutsker I.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl014506
Subject(s) - sphericity , aeronet , aerosol , mie scattering , effective radius , particle (ecology) , scattering , light scattering , particle size , remote sensing , single scattering albedo , environmental science , optics , physics , meteorology , geology , astrophysics , astronomy , paleontology , oceanography , galaxy
Numerous studies indicate the need to account for particle non‐sphericity in modeling the optical properties of dustlike aerosols. The methods for simulating the scattering of light by various non‐spherical shapes have rapidly evolved over the last two decades. However, the majority of aerosol remote‐sensing retrievals still rely on the Mie theory because retrievals accounting for particle non‐sphericity are not as well defined methodologically and are demanding computationally. We propose a method for the retrieval of the optical properties of non‐spherical aerosol based on the model of a shape mixture of randomly oriented polydisperse spheroids. This method is applied to angular and spectral radiation measurements from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) in locations influenced by desert dust. Comparisons with Mie‐based retrievals show a significant improvement in dust‐particle phase functions, size distributions, and refractive indices.