Scattering, Absorption and

Polarization
Introduction
• Scattering is generally used to describe a process by which EM
wave deviates from a straight path as the result of an encounter
with an object.
• For visible light, scattering occurs as light waves encounter air
molecules, aerosol, and cloud droplets and is the process that
makes the sky appear blue and clouds appear white
• For weather radars, the primary objects of concern are cloud
droplets, raindrops, ice crystals, snowflakes, and hailstones and
non-meteorological targets, particularly insects.
Scattering
• Particle size matters
• Particles that are far smaller than
the wavelength will scatter very
weakly (still have absorption)
• For large particles compared to
wavelength of radiation, only
reflection, refraction, and
absorption matters
• Particles in between needed
complex methods to compute
scattering and absorption
properties.
Scattering
•
Mie Scattering
• For size parameters in the range
of 0.1-50, the wavelength of the
radiation and circumference are
comparable
• Strong interaction of radiation and
particles
• Used in the detection of raindrops
by radar and in the study of
aerosols (smoke, dust, haze)
Geometric Optics
•
Rayleigh Scattering
•
Rayleigh Scattering
• At daytime, the Sun rays travel the shortest distance through the
atmosphere. Rayleigh scattering causes a clear sky to be
observed as blue because this is the shortest wavelength the
human eye can observe.
• At sunrise and sunset, however, the Sun rays travel a longer
distance. All the shorter wavelengths are scattered after some
distance and only the longer wavelengths reach the Earth’s
surface. As a result, the sky appears orange or red
Backscattering vs Forward Scattering
• Backscattering (or backscatter) is the reflection of waves,
particles, or signals back to the direction they came from.
• Backscattering is defined also as the phenomenon that occurs when
radiation or particles are scattered at angles to the original direction of
motion of greater than 90°
• Forward scattering is the scattering of photons (particles of light
or other forms of electromagnetic radiation) by a medium in such
a way that most of the photons end up traveling in roughly the
direction they started.
• More generally, it is scattering in which the angle between the initial
and final directions of motion of the scattered particles is less than 90°.
Angular Distribution of Scattering
• Rayleigh Scattering – back scattering and forward scattering are
almost equal
• Mie Scattering – when the particle becomes larger, the scattered
energy becomes increasingly concentrated in the forward
direction
Absorption
• Absorption of electromagnetic radiation occurs when photons of
a specific frequency of radiation are absorbed by an atom or
molecule and that energy is converted to thermal energy, adding
heat to the medium.
• Absorption of microwaves, for example, occurs regularly in your
microwave oven as radiation is used to heat your food
• In the atmosphere, some or all of microwave energy transmitted
by a radar can be absorbed by gases, water droplets, and ice
particles. The amount of absorption that occurs is greater for
shorter radar wavelengths and less so for longer radar
wavelengths.
Polarization
• The orientation of an
electromagnetic wave is
described conventionally by
specifying the orientation of its
electric field vector.
• The plane of polarization is the
plane in which the electric field
oscillates
Polarization
Polarization
• Most conventional radars are horizontally polarized
• Modern radars can control polarization state of the transmitted
EM waves to determine information about precipitation and
weather characteristics
• Polarization diversity radars- transmit fixed polarization and received
multiple polarization
• Polarization-agile radars – transmit multiple polarization states