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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Scattering And Absorption of Light in Planetary Regoliths
Published on: July 1, 2019
Information content of the scattering matrix for spheroidal particles
P E Geller1, T G Tsuei, P W Barber
1University of Utah Research Institute, Environmental Studies Laboratory, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108, USA.
Abstract:
The T-matrix method is shown to be an efficient and accurate procedure for calculating the scattering matrix for randomly oriented nonspherical particles. Calculated scattering matrix elements for spheroidal particles are identical to those obtained by the spheroidal harmonic approach. T-matrix calculations for a randomly oriented finite length cylinder agree well with microwave scattering measurements. Analysis of the information content of the angular variation of the matrix elements for a set of moderately sized absorbing spheroidal particles is presented. It is found that the Fourier spectrum of the phase function and a parameter related to the depolarization ratio contain particle size and shape information, respectively.
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