Interpretation of lidar ratio and depolarization ratio of ice clouds using spaceborne high-spectral-resolution polarization lidar

Abstract

© 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement The backscattering coefficient (β), lidar ratio (S), and depolarization ratio (δ) of ice particles were estimated over a wide range of effective radii to interpret spaceborne 355-nm high-spectral-resolution lidar data from the ATLID sensor onboard the EarthCARE satellite. Five randomly oriented ice particle shapes (3D ice) and two quasi-horizontally oriented particle types (2D ice) were analyzed using five effective angles. The size dependence of β, S, and δ was examined using physical optics and geometrical optics integral equation methods. Differences in β for the same effective radius and ice water content among particle types exceeded one order of magnitude. S-δ relations are useful for inferring ice particle habit and orientation using ATLID data from EarthCARE.