Edited by
Michael Mishchenko, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.
Joachim Hovenier, Free University and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Larry Travis, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, U.S.A.
Description
There is hardly a field of science or engineering that does not have some interest in light scattering by small particles. For example,
this subject is important to climatology because the energy budget for the Earth's atmosphere is strongly affected by scattering of solar
radiation by cloud and aerosol particles, and the whole discipline of remote sensing relies largely on analyzing the parameters of radiation
scattered by aerosols, clouds, and precipitation. The scattering of light by spherical particles can be easily computed using the conventional
Mie theory. However, most small solid particles encountered in natural and laboratory conditions have nonspherical shapes. Examples are
soot and mineral aerosols, cirrus cloud particles, snow and frost crystals, ocean hydrosols, interplanetary and cometary dust grains,
and microorganisms. It is now well known that scattering properties of nonspherical particles can differ dramatically from those of "equivalent"
(e.g., equal-volume or equal-surface-area) spheres. Therefore, the ability to accurately compute or measure light scattering by nonspherical
particles in order to clearly understand the effects of particle nonsphericity on light scattering is very important.
The rapid improvement
of computers and experimental techniques over the past 20 years and the development of efficient numerical approaches have resulted in
major advances in this field which have not been systematically summarized. Because of the universal importance of electromagnetic scattering
by nonspherical particles, papers on different aspects of this subject are scattered over dozens of diverse research and engineering
journals. Often experts in one discipline (e.g., biology) are unaware of potentially useful results obtained in another discipline (e.g.,
antennas and propagation). This leads to an inefficient use of the accumulated knowledge and unnecessary redundancy in research activities.
This book offers the first systematic and unified discussion of light scattering by nonspherical particles and its practical applications
and represents the state-of-the-art of this important
research field. Individual chapters are written by leading experts in respective
areas and cover three major disciplines: theoretical and numerical techniques, laboratory measurements, and practical applications. An
overview chapter provides a concise general introduction to the subject of nonspherical scattering and should be especially useful to
beginners and those interested in fast practical applications. The audience for this book will include graduate students, scientists,
and engineers working on specific aspects of electromagnetic scattering by small particles and its applications in remote sensing, geophysics,
astrophysics, biomedical optics, and optical engineering.
Audience:
Science professionals, engineers, and graduate students specializing in a wide range of disciplines: atmospheric radiation, remote sensing,
climate research, radar meteorology, planetary and space physics, optical engineering, biomedical optics, oceanography, and astrophysics.
Potential readers of the book work in universities, research laboratories, and government agencies such as NASA, NOAA, DOD, DOE, EPA,
and USGS.
