Optical properties simulated for oceanic particles with nonspherical core-shell morphologies

Abstract

Oceanic particles play a significant role in determining the optical properties of the upper layer of oceans and, subsequently, the radiative forcing effect at the atmosphere-ocean interface. However, it is challenging to quantify the optical effects of these particles accurately. This study introduces a comprehensive optical property lookup table for oceanic particles, which can be used for oceanic remote sensing implementations and radiative transfer simulations in ocean. Specifically, the optical properties of an ensemble of irregular core-shell hexahedra under the random orientation condition are used as the surrogates for the counterparts of phytoplankton and other oceanic particles within the visible spectrum. The present theoretical light scattering computational results agree reasonably well with measurements, particularly for the phase function P₁₁. However, the linear polarization ratio − P₁₂/P₁₁ shows reasonable agreement between the computational results and measurements for Microcystis aeruginosa with gas vacancy and Asterionella formosa, but substantial differences are noticed in the comparison for Emiliania huxleyi and Microcystis aeruginosa without gas vacancy.