Polarimetric properties of aerosol particles

Abstract

Retrieval algorithms for scattering particles are shown based on photopolarimeric measurements of sky light over the ocean and multiple scattering simulations of the polarization field. Polarized components of the atmospheric constituents have been measured by a photopolarimeter (named PSR 1000) with spectral bands set up to correspond to the ADEOS/POLDER. The POLDER is the first sensor on board the satellite to be designed to observe polarization. It is shown that heterogeneous grains are better than homogeneous models to explain polarimetric properties of atmospheric aerosols, and a Maxwell-Garnett mixing rule for small water-soluble (WS) inclusions in an oceanic (OC) matrix is available to interpret the polarization measurements of atmospheric aerosols over the Seto Inland Sea. We also found during our observations that the value of refractive index of the aerosol, i.e., its chemical composition, varies with time and place rather than particle size.