Optical model of a cirrus cloud consisting of hollow ice hexagonal columns for lidar applications
A.V. Konoshonkin1,2, N.V. Kustova1, V.A. Shishko1,2, D.N. Timofeev1, I.V. Tkachev1, E. Bakute2, A.E. Babinovich2, X. Zhu3, Z. Wang3
1V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Tomsk, Russia
2National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
3Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Optics, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China
Keywords: light scattering, physical optics method, atmospheric ice crystal, cirrus cloud, optical model, hollow column
Abstract
The absence of an adequate optical model for cirrus clouds currently poses a significant challenge in interpreting ground-based and space-borne lidar data. This, in turn, leads to a lack of up-to-date information for climate modeling and daily weather forecasting. Existing optical models typically assume that ice crystals in cirrus clouds have an ideal shape, which is often not the case. This article proposes an optical model for clouds which consists of the most common irregularly shaped particles, specifically hollow hexagonal columns. The model takes into account the actual distributions of particles in the cloud over both depth of the cavity and particle size. Additionally, the model considers the scenario of a cloud containing a mixture of ideal hexagonal columns and hollow hexagonal columns, which significantly enhances the model reliability. The resulting model holds great practical importance for laser sounding of the atmosphere.
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