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Efficient single-scattering look-up table for lidar and polarimeter water cloud studies.
Optics Letters
|December 23, 2022
Summary
This study introduces a Lorenz-Mie look-up table to accelerate atmospheric light scattering calculations for water droplets. This significantly speeds up computations for aerosol and cloud properties, aiding remote sensing applications.
Area of Science:
- Atmospheric Optics and Remote Sensing
- Computational Physics and Chemistry
Background:
- Accurate retrieval of aerosol, cloud, and ocean microphysical properties using lidar and polarimetry relies on computationally intensive single-scattering calculations.
- Existing methods for calculating light scattering by atmospheric particles, particularly water droplets, are time-consuming, limiting real-time analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a computationally efficient look-up table for light scattering by water droplets.
- To significantly increase computational speed for atmospheric microphysical property retrievals.
- To provide a tool that enhances the precision and applicability of remote sensing data analysis.
Main Methods:
- Creation of a Lorenz-Mie look-up table tabulating light scattering by homogeneous isotropic spheres.
- The table covers wavelengths from 0.35 µm, particle radii from 0.001-500 µm, and complex refractive indices (real part 1.25-1.36, imaginary part 0-0.001).
- Validation of computed inherent optical properties for various particle size distributions and wavelengths (0.35-2.3 µm).
Main Results:
- Achieved up to a 104-fold increase in computational speed for light scattering calculations.
- Demonstrated high precision (within 1% for 96.7%-100% of cases) for inherent optical properties, including scattering matrix elements and various coefficients.
- Confirmed accurate computation for particle size distributions with effective radii up to 100 µm and effective variance up to 0.6.
Conclusions:
- The Lorenz-Mie look-up table offers a substantial computational speed-up for light scattering calculations of water droplets.
- The table provides precise inherent optical properties, enabling more efficient and accurate remote sensing of atmospheric and oceanic microphysical properties.
- Freely available codes and the look-up table facilitate broader adoption and application in atmospheric science research.
