Scattering matrix of quartz aerosols: comparison and synthesis of laboratory and Lorenz–Mie results

Abstract

This paper compares and combines the results of laboratory measurements of the Stokes scattering matrix for nonspherical quartz aerosols at a visible wavelength in the scattering angle range 5–173° and the results of Lorenz–Mie computations for projected-area-equivalent spheres with the refractive index of quartz. A synthetic normalized phase function is constructed based on the laboratory data and the assumption that the diffraction forward-scattering peak is the same for spherical and nonspherical projected-area-equivalent particles. The experimental scattering matrix for the nonspherical quartz particles is poorly represented by the Lorenz–Mie results for most scattering angles. However, the asymmetry parameters for the synthetic phase function and for the equivalent spherical particles are similar.