Light scattering on hexagonal ice columns

Light scattering on finite dielectric cylinders having noncircular cross sections has become of growing importance in remote-sensing applications. For analyzing their scattering characteristics at moderate size parameters, i.e., at a region where ray-tracing techniques fail, a few methods have been developed, among which an approximation based on the generalized separation-of-variables method has become very successful. This approach reveals two interesting features, which we discuss, that reduce the numerical effort drastically if applied to hexagonal (in general, 2n-periodic) boundary surfaces. Finally, some results for the phase function of hexagonal ice columns are given.