Abstract

A linear-system model has been developed to predict irradiance distributions of visible light below an idealized optically thick atmospheric cloud, which is illuminated from above in an arbitrary manner. The model offers elegant mathematical simplicity at the expense of some precision. As such, it is applicable to a broad class of problems in which correct functional forms are required, but levels of accuracy better than a factor of 2 are not necessary. Optical thicknesses can range from about 5 to 32. One example of a problem in this class, the design of a laser communication system to operate through clouds, provided the original motivation for development of the light-transmission model. The optical effects of the cloud are calculated by means of a four-dimensional linear superposition integral, which takes account of multiple scattering. Two illustrations of the method are given in detail, with incident illumination represented by a tightly collimated beam and by a sum of infinite plane waves, respectively.

© 1971 Optical Society of America

Light Scattering from Ultrathin Free Liquid Films: Variation of the Optical Functions with Geometry and Film Thickness*

J. Adin Mann, Karen Caufield, and Gerald Gulden
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61(1) 76-82 (1971)

Radiance and Polarization of Light Reflected from Optically Thick Clouds

G. W. Kattawar and G. N. Plass
Appl. Opt. 10(1) 74-80 (1971)

Theory of light pulse propagation through thick clouds

S. Ito and K. Furutsu
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 70(4) 366-374 (1980)

Scattering of Light from a Rotating Ground Glass*

Lee E. Estes, Lorenzo M. Narducci, and Richard A. Tuft
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61(10) 1301-1306 (1971)

Optical Properties of Aggregated Silver Films

Sadafumi Yoshida, Tomuo Yamaguchi, and Akira Kinbara
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 61(1) 62-69 (1971)