Lecture 3.

Optical properties
1. Attenuation of atmospheric radiation by
particulates.

Aerosol particles can scatter or/and absorb electromagnetic radiation at

different wavelengths.

NOTE: aerosol particles also can emit thermal radiation.

Scattering is a process, which conserves the total amount of energy, but the direction in
which the radiation propagates may be altered.

Absorption is a process that removes energy from the electromagnetic radiation field,
and converts it to another form.

Extinction (or attenuation) is the sum of scattering and absorption, so it represents

total effect of medium on radiation passing the medium.

In the atmosphere: aerosol particles can scatter and absorb solar and
infrared radiation altering air temperature and the rates of photochemical
reactions.

Key parameters that govern the scattering and absorption of radiation by a

particle:

i. the wavelength

of the incident radiation;

ii. the size of the particles, expressed as a dimensional size parameter x:

D
x (where D is the particle diameter);

iii. complex refractive index (or optical constant) of a particle:

m = n + i k where n is the real part of the refractive index, k is the

imaginary part of the refractive index. Both n and k depend on the
wavelength.

Important to remember:

complex refractive index of a particle is defined by its chemical

composition;
real part , n
 , is responsible for scattering.

imaginary part, k,

is responsible for absorption. If k is equal to 0 at a given wavelength thus a

particle does not absorb radiation at this wavelength.

Table 3.1 Some refractive indices of atmospheric aerosol substances at = 0.5 m.

Substance n k

Water 1.333 0

Hematite 2.6 1.0

Elemental carbon 1.75 0.44

Organic carbon 1.53 0.05

NaCl(s) 1.544 0

H2SO4(aq) 1.53 0

(NH4)2SO4(s) 1.52 0

SiO2 1.55 0

NOTE: hematite is a mineral that is a main light absorbing components of mineral

dust.

Mie theory is the basis for calculation of the scattering and absorption coefficients
of a spherical particle having a given diameter and refractive index.

How it works:
For a particle with diameter D and refractive index m we can calculate the
scattering efficiency Qsc, absorption efficiency Qabs, and extinction
efficiency Qext at a given wavelength using Mie theory.

NOTE: Qext = Qsc + Qabs, and they are dimensionless.

Then we calculate cross sections as

 sc = ( D2/4) Qsc

abs = ( D2/4) Qabs

ext = ( D2/4) Qext

NOTE: ext = sc + abs, and they have the units of area.

And then we calculate scattering, absorption and extinction coefficients as

sc =N sc = N ( D2/4) Qsc

abs =N abs = N ( D2/4) Qabs

ext =N ext = N ( D2/4) Qext

where N is the number concentration of the particles with diameter D.

Optical properties for size distribution

ext sc + abs , and they have the units of inverse length.

Knowing the particle density we can calculate the mass extinction

coefficient ext= ext/ p

Where p is the mass density [kg/m3]

Important to remember:

Mie theory is used when size parameter x is about 1 (particle about

the same size as the wavelength).
If x << 1 (particles small compared with the wavelength) we use
Rayleigh regime, in which scattering and extinction coefficient are
given by approximate expressions.
4 1
Rayleigh regime: Qscat and Qabs

If x >> 1 (particles large compared with the wavelength) we use

Geometric regime. If size parameter increases the extinction
efficiency approaches 2.
In general, if we want to know how radiation will be attenuated in the
atmosphere by aerosols, gases and/or clouds we need to solve a radiation
transfer equation, which requires information on optical properties of the
gases and particulates (such as extinction coefficients, single scattering
albedo, scattering phase function, etc.).

Scattering phase function describes the angle-dependent scattering of light

incident on a particle. For an aerosol particle without preferential
emerging direction, the phase function depends only on the relative angle
between the incident and emerging beams, and is given by

4 d scat
P( )
scat d

Asymmetry parameter g is defined as the intensity-weighted average of the cosine of

the scattering angle:

1
g cos sin( ) cos( ) P( )d
20

Single scattering albedo, 0, is defined as

scat

scat abs

which is fraction of total extinction that is due to scattering.

NOTE: single scattering albedo is a key aerosol optical characteristic in

assessment the radiative effects due to aerosols (will be discussed in
Lectures 39-41).

There are many computational and analytical techniques to solve

the radiation transfer equation accounting for multiple scattering,
absorption and emission by atmospheric particulates and gases.
Under single scattering approximation we can employ the Beer-Lambert
law to calculate the light intensity I at any distance z attenuated by the
atmospheric aerosols with extinction ext as

I
exp( ext z) exp( )
I0

where ext z is the aerosol optical depth, and I0 is the incident intensity.

atmosphere
( )

Io -dI I

dz

Plane parallel atmosphere approximation:

Horizontally uniform atmosphere

Vertically uniform layer

Io
atmosphere ( )
-dI
dz
I dz
cos

dz
Optical depth = =
cos
Mass extinction of lognormal distribution of sulfate, organic, black carbons, and
sea-salt
Single Scattering Albedo of log-normal distribution of Sulfate, Organic, Black
carbons, and sea-salt
Asymmetry factor for lognormal distribution of sulfate, organic, black carbons and
sea-salt
Mixture of aerosols: External/Internal mixture

If a particle is made of a mixture of substances an effective refractive index must be

calculated. The particles can be treated as external or internal mixture
 2. Haze and Visibility.
Clean (background) atmospheric conditions: light is scattered and absorbed by
natural gases and particulates (background aerosol).

Polluted atmospheric conditions: air pollutants (gases and particles) cause

additional attenuation of light.

Haze is a form of air pollution consisting of small particles of dust, soot,

sulfates, and other material.

Haze has natural and anthropogenic sources.

Total suspended particulate (TSP) refers to the total mass concentration of

aerosol particles present in the air.

In heavily polluted cities, average TSP abundance is about 50-100

m/m3, with upper limits of about 1000 m/m3.

Two major problems caused by haze:

1. visibility reduction;
2. health effects

Visibility is generally used synonymously with "visual range", meaning the

farthest distance at which one can see a large, black object against the sky at the
horizon.

Some factors determining how far one can see through the atmosphere:

i. optical properties of the atmosphere;

ii. amount and distribution of light;
iii. characteristics of the objects observed;
iv. properties of the human eye.

Visibility is reduced by the absorption and scattering of light by both

gases and particles. However, light scattering by particles is the most
important phenomenon responsible for visibility degradation.
Clean (background) atmospheric conditions: one can see over distances up to
several hundred kilometers.

Polluted atmospheric conditions: visibility is up to 10 km.

Koschmieder equation:

relates visual range (visibility), xv, and extinction coefficient , ext, as

xv = 3.912/ ext

NOTE: in Koschmieder equation the extinction coefficient is sum of extinction

coefficients of all gases and particles, which attenuate light.

NOTE: in Koschmieder equation the extinction coefficient is averaged over

visible wavelengths, however it is often taken at about 550-nm wavelength