Scattering by densely distributed moderate size particles with size distribution and applications to snow

The radiative transfer theory has been used to deal with the problems of remote sensing from scattering media. During the past, the dense media radiative transfer theories are mainly based on the Rayleigh approximation which is only valid in the low-frequency limit when the particle size is much smaller than the wavelength. However, for moderate size particles, higher order multipoles have to be taken into account. In this paper, we derive a QCA-based dense media radiative transfer model. Since the quasicrystalline approximation (QCA) is used, it can be applied to moderate size particles with size distribution. The Mie scattering T-matrix elements for spherical particles are used. After calculating the phase matrix, extinction coefficient and the effective propagation constant by QCA, we use it for dense media radiative transfer theory for inclusion of multiple scattering effects