A systematic study of Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering in air, N₂, and O₂ gases

Spontaneous Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering experiments in air, N2, and O2 have been performed for a wide range of temperatures and pressures at a wavelength of 403 nm and at a 90° scattering angle. Measurements of the Rayleigh-Brillouin spectral scattering profile were conducted at high signal-to-noise ratio for all three species, yielding high-quality spectra unambiguously showing the small differences between scattering in air, and its constituents N2 and O2. Comparison of the experimental spectra with calculations using the Tenti S6 model, developed in the 1970s based on linearized kinetic equations for molecular gases, demonstrates that this model is valid to high accuracy for N2 and O2, as well as for air. After previous measurements performed at 366 nm, the Tenti S6 model is here verified for a second wavelength of 403 nm, and for the pressure-temperature parameter space covered in the present study (250-340 K and 0.6-3 bars). In the application of the Tenti S6 model, based on the transport coefficients of the gases, such as thermal conductivity κ, internal specific heat capacity c(int) and shear viscosity η, as well as their temperature dependencies taken as inputs, values for the more elusive bulk viscosity η(b) for the gases are derived by optimizing the model to the measurements. It is verified that the bulk viscosity parameters obtained from previous experiments at 366 nm are valid for wavelengths of 403 nm. Also for air, which is treated as a single-component gas with effective gas transport coefficients, the Tenti S6 treatment is validated for 403 nm as for the previously used wavelength of 366 nm, yielding an accurate model description of the scattering profiles for a range of temperatures and pressures, including those of relevance for atmospheric studies. It is concluded that the Tenti S6 model, further verified in the present study, is applicable to LIDAR applications for exploring the wind velocity and the temperature profile distributions of the Earth's atmosphere. Based on the present findings at 90° scattering and the determination of η(b) values, predictions can be made on the spectral profiles for a typical LIDAR backscatter geometry. These Tenti S6 predictions for Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering deviate by some 7% from purely Gaussian profiles at realistic sub-atmospheric pressures occurring at 3-5 km altitude in the Earth's atmosphere.