Three-Dimensional Vector Radiative Transfer in a Semi-Infinite, Rayleigh Scattering Medium Exposed to Spatially Varying Polarized Radiation

Alternative Title

Generalized reflection matrix

Abstract

Three-dimensional vector radiative transfer in a semi-infinite medium exposed to spatially varying, polarized radiation is studied. The problem is to determine the generalized reflection matrix for a multiple scattering medium characterized by a 4 × 4 scattering matrix. A double integral transform is used to convert the three-dimensional vector radiative transfer equation to a one-dimensional form, and a modified Ambarzumian's method is then applied to derive a nonlinear integral equation for the generalized reflection matrix. The spatially varying backscattered radiation for an arbitrarily polarized incident beam can be found from the generalized reflection matrix. For Rayleigh scattering and normal incidence and emergence, the generalized reflection matrix is shown to have five non-zero elements. Benchmark results for these five elements are presented and compared to asymptotic results. When the incident radiation is polarized, the vector approach used in this study correctly predicts three-dimensional behavior, while the scalar approach does not. When the incident radiation is unpolarized, both the vector and scalar approaches predict a two-dimensional distribution of the intensity, but the error in the scalar prediction can be as high as 20%. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0022-4073

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2002 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2002

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