POLARIZED-LIGHT SCATTERING BY AEROSOLS IN THE MARINE ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY-LAYER

The intensity and polarization of light scattered from marine aerosols affect visibility and contrast in the marine atmospheric boundary lay er (MABL). The polarization properties of scattered light in the MABL vary with size, refractive index, number distributions, and environmen tal conditions. Laboratory measurements were used to determine the cha racteristics and variability of the polarization of light scattered by aerosols similar to those in the MABL. Scattering from laboratory-gen erated sea-salt-containing (SSC) [NaCl, (NH4)(2)SO4, and seawater] com ponents of marine aerosols was measured with a scanning polarization-m odulated nephelometer. Mie theory with Gaussian and log normal size di stributions of spheres was used to calculate the polarized Light scatt ering from various aerosol composition models and from experimentally determined distributions of aerosols in the marine boundary layer. The modeling mas verified by comparison with scattering from distilled wa ter aerosols. The study suggests that polarimetric techniques can be u sed to enhance techniques for improving visibility and remote imaging for various aerosol types, Sun angles, and viewing conditions. (C) 199 7 Optical Society of America.