Atmospheric Optics
coming soon.
This figure, adapted from Saito et al. (2013), Saito and Iwabuchi (2015), and Saito and Yang (2019), shows the sky images (left panels) taken by a digital camera and (right panels) simulated with a radiative transfer model with the bulk optical property model. Twilight sky shows smoothed color changes from the horizon to the zenith due to not only angular dependent Rayleigh scattering contributions but also scattering–absorption contributions by tropospheric aerosol particles near the horizon. The simulation successfully reproduce the color gradation of the twilight sky. Rigorous single-scattering property of oriented ice crystals allows realistic simulations of particular optical phenomena such as sundogs and upper tangent arc.
Atmospheric optics and optical phenomenon simulations
Atmospheric optics and optical phenomenon simulations
Optical phenomena are always fascinating for many of you. Rainbows, twilight glow, and halo displays familiar to many people are caused by light scattering in the atmosphere, which is fundamental to radiative transfer. In other words, these optical phenomena can tell you about particle properties in the atmosphere. We use a combination of radiative transfer models and realistic scattering property models to simulate optical phenomena. This research aims to bridge a gap between the presence of optical phenomenon display and optical–microphysical properties of atmospheric particles. In particular, the characterization of ice crystal shapes in ice clouds is one of the main focuses of this research.