A study on scattering characteristics of non-spherical precipitation particles at visible wavelengths

Based on the approximate ellipsoid model of raindrops and three types of ice crystals, the scattering phase function and degree of linear polarization at visible wavelengths are calculated by using Ray-tracing method, the effect of shape and axis ratio on scattering characteristic are discussed. The results show that the shape of raindrops has some certain effect on scattering phase function and linear polarization, which increases with the raindrops get bigger; the shape and axis ratio of ice crystals has different effect on scattering phase function and degree of linear polarization, by comparison, the axis ratio of ellipsoid crystals have greater effect on scattering characteristic than that of cylinder and hexagon crystals. These results can be benefit to improve the accuracy of precipitation detection by remote sensing.