Light backscattering for horizontally oriented ice “plate”, “column”, and “hollow column” particles of cirrus clouds
A.V. Konoshonkin1,2, N.V. Kustova1, V.A. Shishko1,2, D.N. Timofeev1, A.E. Babinovich1
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
Keywords: light scattering, physical optics method, atmospheric ice crystal, cirrus cloud, horizontal orientation
Abstract
Cirrus clouds play an important role in formation of the climate of our planet, as far as they influence its radiation balance. Their study requires solving the problem of interpreting atmospheric laser sounding data, which is solved differently for clouds consisting of randomly oriented ice crystals and clouds containing layers of horizontally oriented crystals. In this article, within the framework of the physical optics method, light backscattering properties for horizontally oriented ice particles of cirrus clouds of the “plate”, “column” and “hollow column” type were numerically simulated. Simulations were carried out for particles ranging in size from 10 to 316 µm for wavelengths of 0.532 and 1.064 mm with refractive indexes for ice of 1.3116 + i 1.48 × 10-9 and 1.3004 + i 1.9 × 10-6. The solution was obtained for typical lidar tilt angles of 0, 0.3, 3, and 5°. The results are of interest for developing an optical model of cirrus clouds for interpreting atmospheric laser sounding data in case of cirrus clouds containing this types of particles.
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