NUMERICAL T-MATRIX SOLUTION FOR POLARIZED SCATTERING FROM A CLUSTER OF SPATIALLY ORIENTED, NONSPHERICAL SCATTERERS

Because scatterer size is comparable with wavelength a rigorous T-matr ix solution is used to calculate scattering from the scatterer. When s catterers are nonuniformly clustered the coherency of collective scatt ering from scatterers must be taken into account. We employ a multiple -scattering formulation of the T-matrix method to develop numerical si mulations of polarized scattering from a cluster of spatially oriented nonspherical particles. Numerical simulations are made for polarized bistatic backscattering, and for functional dependence on the particle shape, spatial distribution, orientation and other parameters. Numeri cal results show (a) variations of complex scattering amplitude functi ons of clustered particles due to collective multiple scattering (b) t he scattering difference between clustered nonspherical and spherical particles, (c) the difference between collectively coherent and indepe ndent scattering; and (d) the effect due to the orientation distributi on of clustered nonspherical particles. Numerical calculations compare d well with the experimental data of a two-sphere cluster. (C) 1996 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Inc.