Optical Properties of Polydispersed Atmospheric Aerosols Following Wet Removal

Abstract

It is well known that size distributions of aerosols influence their optical properties. Many previous studies have focused on the optical properties of aerosols with particular weather conditions, such as haze, fog, or pollution. However, few studies have investigated the influence of precipitation on the optical properties of aerosols. In this study, the optical properties of polydispersed atmospheric aerosols following a wet removal process were investigated. For these calculations, a lognormal distribution was used to represent the raindrop size distribution and the tri-modal aerosol size distributions. Variations in aerosol size distributions and the corresponding changes an extinction coefficient caused by the wet scavenging process were quantified with different compositions of aerosols as a function of rain intensity. The results showed that the extinction coefficient decreased and the corresponding visibility was enhanced with the precipitation duration because of the precipitation scavenging. It was also shown that the rain intensity and the refractive index and size distribution of aerosols influenced the calculations of extinction coefficient of aerosols.