This will be the 4th volume of a LIGHT SCATTERING REVIEWS series devoted to current knowledge of light scattering problems and both experimental and theoretical research techniques related to their solution. This volume will cover experimental studies in the optics of light scattering media, focusing on single light scattering and radiative transfer.
Dr Alex Kokhanovsky graduated from the Physical Department of the Belarusian State University in Minsk (Belarus) in1983 and for the last two decades he has worked in the Laboratory of Light Scattering Media Optics in the Institute of Physics in Minsk. He is currently working with the SCIAMACHY algorithm development team at the Institute of Environmental Physics in Bremen (Germany). The main thrust of the research is the development of new cloud retrieval algorithms for water and ice clouds as seen by the spectrometer SCIAMACHY (in space from 2002). He is the editor of the first three volumes in this series, Light Scattering Reviews 1, 2 and 3, and is the author of several Springer Praxis books, including Light Scattering Media Optics (1999, 2001, 2004), Polarization Optics of Random Media (2003) and Cloud Optics (2006)
This fourth volume of Light Scattering Reviews is composed of three parts. The ?rstpartisconcernedwiththeoreticalandexperimentalstudiesofsinglelightsc- tering by small nonspherical particles. Light scattering by small particles such as, for instance, droplets in the terrestrial clouds is a well understood area of physical optics. On the other hand, exact theoretical calculations of light scattering p- terns for most of nonspherical and irregularly shaped particles can be performed only for the restricted values of the size parameter, which is proportional to the ratio of the characteristic size of the particle to the wavelength?. For the large nonspherical particles, approximations are used (e. g. , ray optics). The exact th- retical techniques such as the T-matrix method cannot be used for extremely large particles, such as those in ice clouds, because then the size parameter in the v- iblex=2?a/???,wherea is the characteristic size (radius for spheres), and the associated numerical codes become unstable and produce wrong answers. Yet another problem is due to the fact that particles in many turbid media (e. g. , dust clouds) cannot be characterized by a single shape. Often, refractive indices also vary. Because of problems with theoretical calculations, experimental (i. e. , la- ratory) investigations are important for the characterization and understanding of the optical properties of such types of particles. The ?rst paper in this volume, written by B. Gustafson, is aimed at the descr- tionofscaledanalogueexperimentsinelectromagneticscattering.
Dr Alex Kokhanovsky graduated from the Physical Department of the Belarusian State University in Minsk (Belarus) in1983 and for the last two decades he has worked in the Laboratory of Light Scattering Media Optics in the Institute of Physics in Minsk. He is currently working with the SCIAMACHY algorithm development team at the Institute of Environmental Physics in Bremen (Germany). The main thrust of the research is the development of new cloud retrieval algorithms for water and ice clouds as seen by the spectrometer SCIAMACHY (in space from 2002). He is the editor of the first three volumes in this series, Light Scattering Reviews 1, 2 and 3, and is the author of several Springer Praxis books, including Light Scattering Media Optics (1999, 2001, 2004), Polarization Optics of Random Media (2003) and Cloud Optics (2006)
This fourth volume of Light Scattering Reviews is composed of three parts. The ?rstpartisconcernedwiththeoreticalandexperimentalstudiesofsinglelightsc- tering by small nonspherical particles. Light scattering by small particles such as, for instance, droplets in the terrestrial clouds is a well understood area of physical optics. On the other hand, exact theoretical calculations of light scattering p- terns for most of nonspherical and irregularly shaped particles can be performed only for the restricted values of the size parameter, which is proportional to the ratio of the characteristic size of the particle to the wavelength?. For the large nonspherical particles, approximations are used (e. g. , ray optics). The exact th- retical techniques such as the T-matrix method cannot be used for extremely large particles, such as those in ice clouds, because then the size parameter in the v- iblex=2?a/???,wherea is the characteristic size (radius for spheres), and the associated numerical codes become unstable and produce wrong answers. Yet another problem is due to the fact that particles in many turbid media (e. g. , dust clouds) cannot be characterized by a single shape. Often, refractive indices also vary. Because of problems with theoretical calculations, experimental (i. e. , la- ratory) investigations are important for the characterization and understanding of the optical properties of such types of particles. The ?rst paper in this volume, written by B. Gustafson, is aimed at the descr- tionofscaledanalogueexperimentsinelectromagneticscattering.
From the reviews: "This collective monograph was published as volume 4 of the well-established Praxis/Springer series 'Light Scattering Reviews' ... . this one is a must for any research or university library as well as for individual professionals working in the fields related to light scattering. This volume is a ... demonstration of an advanced maturation stage of this useful series of monographs which have contributed quite significantly to thorough, systematic, and accessible exposition of the discipline of electromagnetic scattering by particles and its various applications." (Michael I. Mishchenko, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer, Vol. 111, 2010)