Showing papers in "Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer in 2016"

HITRAN Application Programming Interface (HAPI): A comprehensive approach to working with spectroscopic data

Abstract: The HITRAN Application Programming Interface (HAPI) is presented. HAPI is a free Python library, which extends the capabilities of the HITRANonline interface ( www.hitran.org ) and can be used to filter and process the structured spectroscopic data. HAPI incorporates a set of tools for spectra simulation accounting for the temperature, pressure, optical path length, and instrument properties. HAPI is aimed to facilitate the spectroscopic data analysis and the spectra simulation based on the line-by-line data, such as from the HITRAN database [JQSRT (2013) 130, 4–50], allowing the usage of the non-Voigt line profile parameters, custom temperature and pressure dependences, and partition sums. The HAPI functions allow the user to control the spectra simulation and data filtering process via a set of the function parameters. HAPI can be obtained at its homepage www.hitran.org/hapi .

Line strengths of rovibrational and rotational transitions in the X2Π ground state of OH

Abstract: A new line list including positions and absolute transition strengths (in the form of Einstein A values and oscillator strengths) has been produced for the OH ground X 2 Π state rovibrational (Meinel system) and pure rotational transitions. All possible transitions are included with v ′ and v ″ up to 13, and J up to between 9.5 and 59.5, depending on the band. An updated fit to determine molecular constants has been performed, which includes some new rotational data and a simultaneous fitting of all molecular constants. The absolute transition strengths are based on a new dipole moment function, which is a combination of two high level ab initio calculations. The calculations show good agreement with an experimental v = 1 lifetime, experimental μ v values, and Δv=2 line intensity ratios from an observed spectrum. To achieve this good agreement, an alteration in the method of converting matrix elements from Hund׳s case (b) to (a) was made. Partitions sums have been calculated using the new energy levels, for the temperature range 5–6000 K, which extends the previously available (in HITRAN) 70–3000 K range. The resulting absolute transition strengths have been used to calculate O abundances in the Sun, Arcturus, and two red giants in the Galactic open and globular clusters M67 and M71. Literature data based mainly on [O I] lines are available for the Sun and Arcturus, and excellent agreement is found.

A room temperature CO2 line list with ab initio computed intensities

Abstract: Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are being closely monitored by remote sensing experiments which rely on knowing line intensities with an uncertainty of 0.5% or better. We report a theoretical study providing rotation–vibration line intensities substantially within the required accuracy based on the use of a highly accurate ab initio dipole moment surface (DMS). The theoretical model developed is used to compute CO2 intensities with uncertainty estimates informed by cross comparing line lists calculated using pairs of potential energy surfaces (PES) and DMS׳s of similar high quality. This yields lines sensitivities which are utilized in reliability analysis of our results. The final outcome is compared to recent accurate measurements as well as the HITRAN2012 database. Transition frequencies are obtained from effective Hamiltonian calculations to produce a comprehensive line list covering all 12C16O2 transitions below 8000 cm − 1 and stronger than 10 − 30 cm /molecule at T = 296 K .

HITRANonline: An online interface and the flexible representation of spectroscopic data in the HITRAN database

Abstract: We describe a new, online interface to the HITRAN database that overcomes the many limitations of the existing, 160-character fixed-width, text based format (the “.par” files mostly distributed through an FTP site until now). The interface, called HITRANonline, accesses a relational database [JQSRT 2013:130, 57-61] in which the spectroscopic data are stored in a flexible, extensible and structured format. This allows an arbitrary number of different parameters for each transition to be stored so that HITRAN can represent, for example, non-Voigt line shape profiles as well as parameters representing broadening by species other than “air” and “self”. The online interface provides many ways of visualizing data as part of querying the database and allows users to create and save their own output formats to suit their own needs. A bibliography file produced with each data file provides citations and notes to the original data sources to make it easier for users to credit data providers. Once registered with the HITRANonline service, users also have (private) access to thier own search history which summarizes and can repeat queries.

Chemical species tomography of turbulent flows: Discrete ill-posed and rank deficient problems and the use of prior information

Abstract: Due to the inherent ill-posed nature of chemical species tomography (CST) problems, additional information based on the presumed species distribution must be introduced into the reconstruction procedure. The role that this prior information plays in tomographic reconstruction differs depending on whether the CST problem is discrete ill-posed or rank-deficient. The former case arises mainly in laboratory studies involving small scale problems with high degrees of optical access and often a stationary flow field, while the later occurs when the number and arrangement of measurements are limited by the size and/or the optical access afforded by the containing geometry. This paper elucidates the difference between these two types of CST problems, and reviews various ways that prior information can be used to enhance reconstruction accuracy of CST experiments on turbulent flows.

H2, He, and CO2 line-broadening coefficients, pressure shifts and temperature-dependence exponents for the HITRAN database. Part 1: SO2, NH3, HF, HCl, OCS and C2H2

Abstract: To increase the potential for use of the HITRAN database in astronomy, experimental and theoretical line-broadening coefficients, line shifts and temperature-dependence exponents of molecules of planetary interest broadened by H2, He, and CO2 have been assembled from available peer-reviewed sources The collected data were used to create semi-empirical models so that every HITRAN line of the studied molecules has corresponding parameters Since H2 and He are major constituents in the atmospheres of gas giants, and CO2 predominates in atmospheres of some rocky planets with volcanic activity, these spectroscopic data are important for remote sensing studies of planetary atmospheres In this paper we make the first step in assembling complete sets of these parameters, thereby creating datasets for SO2, NH3, HF, HCl, OCS and C2H2

The implementation of non-Voigt line profiles in the HITRAN database: H2 case study

Abstract: Experimental capabilities of molecular spectroscopy and its applications nowadays require a sub-percent or even sub-per mille accuracy of the representation of the shapes of molecular transitions. This implies the necessity of using more advanced line-shape models which are characterized by many more parameters than a simple Voigt profile. It is a great challenge for modern molecular spectral databases to store and maintain the extended set of line-shape parameters as well as their temperature dependences. It is even more challenging to reliably retrieve these parameters from experimental spectra over a large range of pressures and temperatures. In this paper we address this problem starting from the case of the H2 molecule for which the non-Voigt line-shape effects are exceptionally pronounced. For this purpose we reanalyzed the experimental data reported in the literature. In particular, we performed detailed line-shape analysis of high-quality spectra obtained with cavity-enhanced techniques. We also report the first high-quality cavity-enhanced measurement of the H2 fundamental vibrational mode. We develop a correction to the Hartmann–Tran profile (HTP) which adjusts the HTP to the particular model of the velocity-changing collisions. This allows the measured spectra to be better represented over a wide range of pressures. The problem of storing the HTP parameters in the HITRAN database together with their temperature dependences is also discussed.

General description of circularly symmetric Bessel beams of arbitrary order

Abstract: A general description of circularly symmetric Bessel beams of arbitrary order is derived in this paper. This is achieved by analyzing the relationship between different descriptions of polarized Bessel beams obtained using different approaches. It is shown that a class of circularly symmetric Davis Bessel beams derived using the Hertz vector potentials possesses the same general functional dependence as the aplanatic Bessel beams generated using the angular spectrum representation (ASR). This result bridges the gap between different descriptions of Bessel beams and leads to a general description of circularly symmetric Bessel beams, such that the Davis Bessel beams and the aplanatic Bessel beams are merely the two simplest cases of an infinite number of possible circularly symmetric Bessel beams. Additionally, magnitude profiles of the electric and magnetic fields, the energy density and the Poynting vector are displayed for Bessel beams in both paraxial and nonparaxial cases. The results presented in this paper provide a fresh perspective on the description of Bessel beams and cast some insights into the light scattering and light-matter interactions problems in practice.

On the radiative properties of soot aggregates – Part 2: Effects of coating

Abstract: The effects of weakly absorbing material coating on soot have attracted considerable research attention in recent years due to the significant influence of such coating on soot radiative properties and the large differences predicted by different numerical models. Soot aggregates were first numerically generated using the diffusion limited cluster aggregation algorithm to produce fractal aggregates formed by log-normally distributed polydisperse spherical primary particles in point-touch. These aggregates were then processed by adding a certain amount of primary particle overlapping and necking to simulate the soot morphology observed from transmission electron microscopy images. After this process, a layer of WAM coating of different thicknesses was added to these more realistic soot aggregates. The radiative properties of these coated soot aggregates over the spectral range of 266–1064 nm were calculated by the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) using the spectrally dependent refractive index of soot for four aggregates containing Np=1, 20, 51 and 96 primary particles. The considered coating thicknesses range from 0% (no coating) up to 100% coating in terms of the primary particle diameter. Coating enhances both the particle absorption and scattering cross sections, with much stronger enhancement to the scattering one, as well as the asymmetry factor and the single scattering albedo. The absorption enhancement is stronger in the UV than in the visible and the near infrared. The simple corrections to the Rayleigh–Debye–Gans fractal aggregates theory for uncoated soot aggregates are found not working for coated soot aggregates. The core–shell model significantly overestimates the absorption enhancement by coating in the visible and the near infrared compared to the DDA results of the coated soot particle. Treating an externally coated soot aggregate as an aggregate formed by individually coated primary particles significantly underestimates the absorption enhancement by coating in the visible and the near infrared.

Effects of total pressure on non-grey gas radiation transfer in oxy-fuel combustion using the LBL, SNB, SNBCK, WSGG, and FSCK methods

Abstract: The effects of total pressure on gas radiation heat transfer are investigated in 1D parallel plate geometry containing isothermal and homogeneous media and an inhomogeneous and non-isothermal CO 2 –H 2 O mixture under conditions relevant to oxy-fuel combustion using the line-by-line (LBL), statistical narrow-band (SNB), statistical narrow-band correlated-k (SNBCK), weighted-sum-of-grey-gases (WSGG), and full-spectrum correlated- k (FSCK) models. The LBL calculations were conducted using the HITEMP2010 and CDSD-1000 databases and the LBL results serve as the benchmark solution to evaluate the accuracy of the other models. Calculations of the SNB, SNBCK, and FSCK were conducted using both the 1997 EM2C SNB parameters and their recently updated 2012 parameters to investigate how the SNB model parameters affect the results under oxy-fuel combustion conditions at high pressures. The WSGG model considered is the recently developed one by Bordbar et al. [19] for oxy-fuel combustion based on LBL calculations using HITEMP2010. The total pressure considered ranges from 1 up to 30 atm. The total pressure significantly affects gas radiation transfer primarily through the increase in molecule number density and only slightly through spectral line broadening. Using the 1997 EM2C SNB model parameters the accuracy of SNB and SNBCK is very good and remains essentially independent of the total pressure. When using the 2012 EM2C SNB model parameters the SNB and SNBCK results are less accurate and their error increases with increasing the total pressure. The WSGG model has the lowest accuracy and the best computational efficiency among the models investigated. The errors of both WSGG and FSCK using the 2012 EM2C SNB model parameters increase when the total pressure is increased from 1 to 10 atm, but remain nearly independent of the total pressure beyond 10 atm. When using the 1997 EM2C SNB model parameters the accuracy of FSCK only slightly decreases with increasing the total pressure.

A comprehensive evaluation of different radiation models in a gas turbine combustor under conditions of oxy-fuel combustion with dry recycle

Abstract: The oxy-fuel combustion is a promising CO2 capture technology from combustion systems. This process is characterized by much higher CO2 concentrations in the combustion system compared to that of the conventional air-fuel combustion. To accurately predict the enhanced thermal radiation in oxy-fuel combustion, it is essential to take into account the non-gray nature of gas radiation. In this study, radiation heat transfer in a 3D model gas turbine combustor under two test cases at 20 atm total pressure was calculated by various non-gray gas radiation models, including the statistical narrow-band (SNB) model, the statistical narrow-band correlated-k (SNBCK) model, the wide-band correlated-k (WBCK) model, the full spectrum correlated-k (FSCK) model, and several weighted sum of gray gases (WSGG) models. Calculations of SNB, SNBCK, and FSCK were conducted using the updated EM2C SNB model parameters. Results of the SNB model are considered as the benchmark solution to evaluate the accuracy of the other models considered. Results of SNBCK and FSCK are in good agreement with the benchmark solution. The WBCK model is less accurate than SNBCK or FSCK. Considering the three formulations of the WBCK model, the multiple gases formulation is the best choice regarding the accuracy and computational cost. The WSGG model with the parameters of Bordbar et al. (2014) [20] is the most accurate of the three investigated WSGG models. Use of the gray WSSG formulation leads to significant deviations from the benchmark data and should not be applied to predict radiation heat transfer in oxy-fuel combustion systems. A best practice to incorporate the state-of-the-art gas radiation models for high accuracy of radiation heat transfer calculations at minimal increase in computational cost in CFD simulation of oxy-fuel combustion systems for pressure path lengths up to about 10 bar m is suggested.

Numerical solutions of the macroscopic Maxwell equations for scattering by non-spherical particles: A tutorial review

Abstract: Numerical solution methods for electromagnetic scattering by non-spherical particles comprise a variety of different techniques, which can be traced back to different assumptions and solution strategies applied to the macroscopic Maxwell equations. One can distinguish between time- and frequency-domain methods; further, one can divide numerical techniques into finite-difference methods (which are based on approximating the differential operators), separation-of-variables methods (which are based on expanding the solution in a complete set of functions, thus approximating the fields), and volume integral-equation methods (which are usually solved by discretisation of the target volume and invoking the long-wave approximation in each volume cell). While existing reviews of the topic often tend to have a target audience of program developers and expert users, this tutorial review is intended to accommodate the needs of practitioners as well as novices to the field. The required conciseness is achieved by limiting the presentation to a selection of illustrative methods, and by omitting many technical details that are not essential at a first exposure to the subject. On the other hand, the theoretical basis of numerical methods is explained with little compromises in mathematical rigour; the rationale is that a good grasp of numerical light scattering methods is best achieved by understanding their foundation in Maxwell's theory.

An algorithm for hyperspectral remote sensing of aerosols: 1. Development of theoretical framework

Abstract: This paper describes the first part of a series of investigations to develop algorithms for simultaneous retrieval of aerosol parameters and surface reflectance from a newly developed hyperspectral instrument, the GEOstationary Trace gas and Aerosol Sensor Optimization (GEO-TASO), by taking full advantage of available hyperspectral measurement information in the visible bands. We describe the theoretical framework of an inversion algorithm for the hyperspectral remote sensing of the aerosol optical properties, in which major principal components (PCs) for surface reflectance is assumed known, and the spectrally dependent aerosol refractive indices are assumed to follow a power-law approximation with four unknown parameters (two for real and two for imaginary part of refractive index). New capabilities for computing the Jacobians of four Stokes parameters of reflected solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere with respect to these unknown aerosol parameters and the weighting coefficients for each PC of surface reflectance are added into the UNified Linearized Vector Radiative Transfer Model (UNL-VRTM), which in turn facilitates the optimization in the inversion process. Theoretical derivations of the formulas for these new capabilities are provided, and the analytical solutions of Jacobians are validated against the finite-difference calculations with relative error less than 0.2%. Finally, self-consistency check of the inversion algorithm is conducted for the idealized green-vegetation and rangeland surfaces that were spectrally characterized by the U.S. Geological Survey digital spectral library. It shows that the first six PCs can yield the reconstruction of spectral surface reflectance with errors less than 1%. Assuming that aerosol properties can be accurately characterized, the inversion yields a retrieval of hyperspectral surface reflectance with an uncertainty of 2% (and root-mean-square error of less than 0.003), which suggests self-consistency in the inversion framework. The next step of using this framework to study the aerosol information content in GEO-TASO measurements is also discussed.

Comprehensive thematic T-matrix reference database: A 2014–2015 update

Abstract: The T-matrix method is one of the most versatile and efficient direct computer solvers of the macroscopic Maxwell equations and is widely used for the computation of electromagnetic scattering by single and composite particles, discrete random media, and particles in the vicinity of an interface separating two half-spaces with different refractive indices. This paper is the seventh update to the comprehensive thematic database of peer-reviewed T-matrix publications initiated by us in 2004 and includes relevant publications that have appeared since 2013. It also lists a number of earlier publications overlooked previously.

Electromagnetic wave propagation in spatially homogeneous yet smoothly time-varying dielectric media

Abstract: We explore the propagation and transformation of electromagnetic waves through spatially homogeneous yet smoothly time-dependent media within the framework of classical electrodynamics. By modelling the smooth transition, occurring during a finite period τ, as a phenomenologically realistic and sigmoidal change of the dielectric permittivity, an analytically exact solution to Maxwell׳s equations is derived for the electric displacement in terms of hypergeometric functions. Using this solution, we show the possibility of amplification and attenuation of waves and associate this with the decrease and increase of the time-dependent permittivity. We demonstrate, moreover, that such an energy exchange between waves and non-stationary media leads to the transformation (or conversion) of frequencies. Our results may pave the way towards controllable light–matter interaction in time-varying structures.

Physical inversion of the full IASI spectra: Assessment of atmospheric parameters retrievals, consistency of spectroscopy and forward modelling

Abstract: Spectra observed by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer (IASI) have been used to assess both retrievals and the spectral quality and consistency of current forward models and spectroscopic databases for atmospheric gas line and continuum absorption. The analysis has been performed with thousands of observed spectra over sea surface in the Pacific Ocean close to the Mauna Loa (Hawaii) validation station. A simultaneous retrieval for surface temperature, atmospheric temperature, H2O, HDO, O3 profiles and gas average column abundance of CO2, CO, CH4, SO2, N2O, HNO3, NH3, OCS and CF4 has been performed and compared to in situ observations. The retrieval system considers the full IASI spectrum (all 8461 spectral channels on the range 645–2760 cm−1). We have found that the average column amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases can be retrieved with a precision better than 1% in most cases. The analysis of spectral residuals shows that, after inversion, they are generally reduced to within the IASI radiometric noise. However, larger residuals still appear for many of the most abundant gases, namely H2O, CH4 and CO2. The H2O ν2 spectral region is in general warmer (higher radiance) than observations. The CO2 ν2 and N2O/CO2 ν3 spectral regions now show a consistent behavior for channels, which are probing the troposphere. Updates in CH4 spectroscopy do not seem to improve the residuals. The effect of isotopic fractionation of HDO is evident in the 2500–2760 cm−1 region and in the atmospheric window around 1200 cm−1.

Line parameters including temperature dependences of self- and air-broadened line shapes of 12C16O2: 1.6-μm region

Abstract: Pressure-broadened line shapes in the 30013←00001 (ν1+4 ν 2 0 +ν3) band of 12C16O2 at 6228 cm−1 are reanalyzed using new spectra recorded with sample temperatures down to 170 K. High resolution, high signal-to-noise (S/N) laboratory measurements of line shapes (Lorentz air- and self-broadened half-width coefficients, pressure-shift coefficients and off-diagonal relaxation matrix element coefficients) as a function of gas sample temperatures for various pressures and volume mixing ratios are presented. The spectra were recorded using two different Fourier transform spectrometers (FTS): (1) the McMath-Pierce FTS located at the National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, Arizona (and reported in Devi et al., J Mol Spectrosc 2007;245:52-80) and, (2) the Bruker IFS-125HR FTS at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The 19 spectra taken at Kitt Peak were all recorded near room temperature while the 27 Bruker spectra were acquired both at room temperature and colder temperatures (170-296 K). Various spectral resolutions (0.004–0.011 cm−1), absorption path lengths (2.46–121 m) and CO2 samples (natural and 12C-enriched) were included in the dataset. To maximize the accuracies of the various retrieved line parameters, a multispectrum nonlinear least squares spectrum fitting software program was used to adjust the ro-vibrational constants (G,B,D etc.) and intensity parameters (including Herman-Wallis terms) instead of directly measuring the individual line positions and intensities. To minimize systematic residuals, line mixing (via off-diagonal relaxation matrix elements) and quadratic speed dependence parameters were included in the analysis. Contributions from other weakly absorbing bands: the 30013←00001 and 30012←00001 bands of 13C16O2, the 30013←00001 band of 12C16O18O, hot bands 31113←01101 and 32212←02201 of 12C16O2, as well as the 40013←10001 and the 40014←10002 bands of 12C16O2, present within the fitted interval were also measured. Results from previous works and new calculations are compared to present measurements, where appropriate.

Comments on localized and integral localized approximations in spherical coordinates

Abstract: Localized approximation procedures are efficient ways to evaluate beam shape coefficients of laser beams, and are particularly useful when other methods are ineffective or inefficient. Comments on these procedures are, however, required in order to help researchers make correct decisions concerning their use. This paper has the flavor of a short review and takes the opportunity to attract the attention of the readers to a required refinement of terminology.

Applicability of the effective-medium approximation to heterogeneous aerosol particles

Abstract: The effective-medium approximation (EMA) is based on the assumption that a heterogeneous particle can have a homogeneous counterpart possessing similar scattering and absorption properties. We analyze the numerical accuracy of the EMA by comparing superposition T-matrix computations for spherical aerosol particles filled with numerous randomly distributed small inclusions and Lorenz-Mie computations based on the Maxwell-Garnett mixing rule. We verify numerically that the EMA can indeed be realized for inclusion size parameters smaller than a threshold value. The threshold size parameter depends on the refractive-index contrast between the host and inclusion materials and quite often does not exceed several tenths, especially in calculations of the scattering matrix and the absorption cross section. As the inclusion size parameter approaches the threshold value, the scattering-matrix errors of the EMA start to grow with increasing the host size parameter and or the number of inclusions. We confirm, in particular, the existence of the effective-medium regime in the important case of dust aerosols with hematite or air-bubble inclusions, but then the large refractive-index contrast necessitates inclusion size parameters of the order of a few tenths. Irrespective of the highly restricted conditions of applicability of the EMA, our results provide further evidence that the effective-medium regime must be a direct corollary of the macroscopic Maxwell equations under specific assumptions.

Complex frequencies and field distributions of localized surface plasmon modes in graphene-coated subwavelength wires

Abstract: Fil: Cuevas, Mauro. Universidad de Belgrano. Facultad de Tecnologia Informatica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisica de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisica de Buenos Aires; Argentina

Optical pulling force on a magneto-dielectric Rayleigh sphere in Bessel tractor polarized beams

Abstract: The optical radiation force induced by Bessel (vortex) beams on a magneto-dielectric subwavelength sphere is investigated with particular emphasis on the beam polarization and order l (or topological charge). The analysis is focused on identifying the regions and some of the conditions to achieve retrograde motion of the sphere centered on the axis of wave propagation of the incident beam, or shifted off-axially. Exact non-paraxial analytical solutions are established, and computations for linear, circular, radial, azimuthal and mixed polarizations of the individual plane wave components forming the Bessel (vortex) beams by means of the angular spectrum decomposition method (ASDM) illustrate the theory with particular emphasis on the tractor (i.e. reversal) behavior of the force. This effect results in the pulling of the magneto-dielectric sphere against the forward linear momentum density flux associated with the incoming waves. Should some conditions related to the choice of the beam parameters as well as the permittivity and permeability of the sphere be met, the optical force vanishes and reverses sign. Moreover, the beam polarization is shown to affect differently the axial negative pulling force for either the zeroth- or the first-order Bessel beam. When the sphere is centered on the beam′s axis, the axial force component is always negative for the zeroth-order Bessel beam except for the radial and azimuthal polarization configurations. Nonetheless, for the first-order Bessel beam, the axial force is negative for the radial polarization case only. Additional tractor beam effects arise when the sphere departs from the center of the beam. It is also demonstrated that the tractor beam effect arises from the force component originating from the cross-interaction between the electric and magnetic dipoles. Potential applications are in particle manipulation, optical levitation, tractor beam tweezers, and other emergent technologies using polarized Bessel beams on a small (Rayleigh) magneto-dielectric particle.

smarties: User-friendly codes for fast and accurate calculations of light scattering by spheroids

Abstract: We provide a detailed user guide for smarties, a suite of Matlab codes for the calculation of the optical properties of oblate and prolate spheroidal particles, with comparable capabilities and ease-of-use as Mie theory for spheres. smarties is a Matlab implementation of an improved T-matrix algorithm for the theoretical modelling of electromagnetic scattering by particles of spheroidal shape. The theory behind the improvements in numerical accuracy and convergence is briefly summarized, with reference to the original publications. Instructions of use, and a detailed description of the code structure, its range of applicability, as well as guidelines for further developments by advanced users are discussed in separate sections of this user guide. The code may be useful to researchers seeking a fast, accurate and reliable tool to simulate the near-field and far-field optical properties of elongated particles, but will also appeal to other developers of light-scattering software seeking a reliable benchmark for non-spherical particles with a challenging aspect ratio and/or refractive index contrast.

Efficient and robust method for simultaneous reconstruction of the temperature distribution and radiative properties in absorbing, emitting, and scattering media

Abstract: A rapid computational method called generalized sourced multi-flux method (GSMFM) was developed to simulate outgoing radiative intensities in arbitrary directions at the boundary surfaces of absorbing, emitting, and scattering media which were served as input for the inverse analysis. A hybrid least-square QR decomposition–stochastic particle swarm optimization (LSQR–SPSO) algorithm based on the forward GSMFM solution was developed to simultaneously reconstruct multi-dimensional temperature distribution and absorption and scattering coefficients of the cylindrical participating media. The retrieval results for axisymmetric temperature distribution and non-axisymmetric temperature distribution indicated that the temperature distribution and scattering and absorption coefficients could be retrieved accurately using the LSQR–SPSO algorithm even with noisy data. Moreover, the influences of extinction coefficient and scattering albedo on the accuracy of the estimation were investigated, and the results suggested that the reconstruction accuracy decreased with the increase of extinction coefficient and the scattering albedo. Finally, a non-contact measurement platform of flame temperature field based on the light field imaging was set up to validate the reconstruction model experimentally.

Intercomparison of the GOS approach, superposition T-matrix method, and laboratory measurements for black carbon optical properties during aging

Abstract: We perform a comprehensive intercomparison of the geometric-optics surface-wave (GOS) approach, the superposition T-matrix method, and laboratory measurements for optical properties of fresh and coated/aged black carbon (BC) particles with complex structures. GOS and T-matrix calculations capture the measured optical (i.e., extinction, absorption, and scattering) cross sections of fresh BC aggregates, with 5–20% differences depending on particle size. We find that the T-matrix results tend to be lower than the measurements, due to uncertainty in theoretical approximations of realistic BC structures, particle property measurements, and numerical computations in the method. On the contrary, the GOS results are higher than the measurements (hence the T-matrix results) for BC radii 100 nm. We find good agreement (differences 100 nm. We find small deviations (≤10%) in asymmetry factors computed from the two methods for most BC coating structures and sizes, but several complex structures have 10–30% differences. This study provides the foundation for downstream application of the GOS approach in radiative transfer and climate studies.

Photometric indicators of visual night sky quality derived from all-sky brightness maps

Abstract: Wide angle or fisheye cameras provide a high resolution record of artificial sky glow, which results from the scattering of escaped anthropogenic light by the atmosphere, over the sky vault in the moonless nocturnal environment. Analysis of this record yields important indicators of the extent and severity of light pollution. The following indicators were derived through numerical analysis of all-sky brightness maps: zenithal, average all-sky, median, brightest, and darkest sky brightness. In addition, horizontal and vertical illuminance, resulting from sky brightness were computed. A natural reference condition to which the anthropogenic component may be compared is proposed for each indicator, based upon an iterative analysis of a high resolution natural sky model. All-sky brightness data, calibrated in the V band by photometry of standard stars and converted to luminance, from 406 separate data sets were included in an exploratory analysis. Of these, six locations representing a wide range of severity of impact from artificial sky brightness were selected as examples and examined in detail. All-sky average brightness is the most unbiased indicator of impact to the environment, and is more sensitive and accurate in areas of slight to moderate light pollution impact than zenith brightness. Maximum vertical illuminance provides an excellent indicator of impacts to wilderness character, as does measures of the brightest portions of the sky. Zenith brightness, the workhorse of field campaigns, is compared to the other indicators and found to correlate well with horizontal illuminance, especially at relatively bright sites. The median sky brightness describes a brightness threshold for the upper half of the sky, of importance to telescopic optical astronomy. Numeric indicators, in concert with all-sky brightness maps, provide a complete assessment of visual sky quality at a site.

Effect of morphology on the optical properties of soot aggregated with spheroidal monomers

Abstract: The monomers of fractal aggregated soot particles are usually considered to be standard spheres in simulations, but a number of less regular shapes may be found in some burning conditions. In this paper, we simulated and investigated the optical properties of fresh dry soot particles as the aggregations of spheroidal monomers with different aspect ratios. Their optical properties were calculated using the numerically exact discrete dipole approximation (DDA) method. The simulated results indicated that the optical properties of soot aggregates composed of spheroidal monomers with highly nonspherical morphologies were considerably different from those composed of spherical monomers. The soot aggregates composed of the oblate spheroids with larger aspect ratios or the prolate spheroids with smaller aspect ratios may have led to larger cross sections of extinction, absorption and scattering. In extreme cases with R a / R b = 3 and R a / R b = 1 / 3 for the soot spheroidal monomers, the relative deviations compared to spherical monomers models reached up to 15% for the absorption cross sections, 10% for the single scattering albedo (SSA) and −25% for the asymmetry parameter (ASY). Moreover, by assuming a soot refractive index of 1.95+0.79i, a mass density of 1.8 g/cm3 and a mean volume-equivalent spherical monomer radius of 0.02 µm, the estimated mass absorption cross sections (MAC) of soot aggregates composed of the oblate spheroidal monomers with large aspect ratios ( R a / R b = 3 ) reached up to 7.5 m2/g, which was closer to the measurements of 7.5±1.2 m2/g than the ~6.5 m2/g determined by the spherical monomers models. For future research with this type of small aggregated aerosol particles, it would be valuable to consider the monomer morphologies used in this paper for their optical simulations.

The spectral amplification effect of clouds to the night sky radiance in Madrid

Abstract: Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) may have various environmental impacts ranging from compromising the visibility of astronomical objects to the perturbation of circadian cycles in animals and humans. In the past much research has been carried out to study the impact of ALAN on the radiance of the night sky during clear sky conditions. This was mainly justified by the need for a better understanding of the behavior of ALAN propagation into the environment in order to protect world-class astronomical facilities. More recently, alongside to the threat to the natural starry sky, many issues have emerged from the biological science community. It has been shown that, nearby or inside cities, the presence of cloud cover generally acts as an amplifier for artificial sky radiance while clouds behave as attenuators for remote observers. In this paper we show the spectral behavior of the zenith sky radiance amplification factor exerted by clouds inside a city. We compare in-situ measurements made with the spectrometer SAND-4 with a numerical model applied to the specific geographical context of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain.

Laboratory investigations of mineral dust near-backscattering depolarization ratios

Abstract: Recently, there has been increasing interest to derive the fractions of fine- and coarse-mode dust particles from polarization lidar measurements. For this, assumptions of the backscattering properties of the complex dust particles have to be made either by using empirical data or particle models. Laboratory measurements of dust backscattering properties are important to validate the assumptions made in the lidar retrievals and to estimate their uncertainties. Here, we present laboratory measurements of linear and circular near-backscattering (178°) depolarization ratios of over 200 dust samples measured at 488 and 552 nm wavelengths. The measured linear depolarization ratios ranged from 0.03 to 0.36 and were strongly dependent on the particle size. The strongest size-dependence was observed for fine-mode particles as their depolarization ratios increased almost linearly with particle median diameter from 0.03 to 0.3, whereas the coarse-mode particle depolarization values stayed rather constant with a mean linear depolarization ratio of 0.27. The depolarization ratios were found to be insensitive to the dust source region or thin coating of the particles or to changes in relative humidity. We compared the measurements with results of three different scattering models. With certain assumptions for model particle shape, all the models were capable of correctly describing the size-dependence of the measured dust particle, albeit the model particles significantly differed in composition, shape and degree of complexity. Our results show potential for distinguishing the dust fine- and coarse-mode distributions based on their depolarization properties and, thus, can serve the lidar community as an empirical reference.

A fast radiative transfer method for the simulation of visible satellite imagery

Abstract: A computationally efficient radiative transfer method for the simulation of visible satellite images is presented. The top of atmosphere reflectance is approximated by a function depending on vertically integrated optical depths and effective particle sizes for water and ice clouds, the surface albedo, the sun and satellite zenith angles and the scattering angle. A look-up table (LUT) for this reflectance function is generated by means of the discrete ordinate method (DISORT). For a constant scattering angle the reflectance is a relatively smooth and symmetric function of the two zenith angles, which can be well approximated by the lowest-order terms of a 2D Fourier series. By storing only the lowest Fourier coefficients and adopting a non-equidistant grid for the scattering angle, the LUT is reduced to a size of 21 MB per satellite channel. The computation of the top of atmosphere reflectance requires only the calculation of the cloud parameters from the model state and the evaluation and interpolation of the reflectance function using the compressed LUT and is thus orders of magnitude faster than DISORT. The accuracy of the method is tested by generating synthetic satellite images for the 0.6 μ m and 0.8 μ m channels of the SEVIRI instrument for operational COSMO-DE model forecasts from the German Weather Service (DWD) and comparing them to DISORT results. For a test period in June the root mean squared absolute reflectance error is about 10−2 and the mean relative reflectance error is less than 2% for both channels. For scattering angles larger than 170 ° the rapid variation of reflectance with the particle size related to the backscatter glory reduces the accuracy and the errors increase by a factor of 3–4. Speed and accuracy of the new method are sufficient for operational data assimilation and high-resolution model verification applications.

Evaluating the summer night sky brightness at a research field site on Lake Stechlin in northeastern Germany

Abstract: We report luminance measurements of the summer night sky at a field site on a freshwater lake in northeastern Germany (Lake Stechlin) to evaluate the amount of artificial skyglow from nearby and distant towns in the context of a planned study on light pollution. The site is located about 70 km north of Berlin in a rural area possibly belonging to one of the darkest regions in Germany. Continuous monitoring of the zenith sky luminance between June and September 2015 was conducted utilizing a Sky Quality Meter. With this device, typical values for clear nights in the range of 21.5–21.7 magSQM/arcsec2 were measured, which is on the order of the natural sky brightness during starry nights. On overcast nights, values down to 22.84 magSQM/arcsec2 were obtained, which is about one third as bright as on clear nights. The luminance measured on clear nights as well as the darkening with the presence of clouds indicates that there is very little influence of artificial skyglow on the zenith sky brightness at this location. Furthermore, fish-eye lens sky imaging luminance photometry was performed with a digital single-lens reflex camera on a clear night in the absence of moonlight. The photographs unravel several distant towns as possible sources of light pollution on the horizon. However, the low level of artificial skyglow makes the field site at Lake Stechlin an excellent location to study the effects of skyglow on a lake ecosystem in a controlled fashion.