Basic optics, aerosol optics, and the role of scattering for sky radiance

Autor(en)

Helmuth Horvath

Abstrakt

The radiance of the night sky is determined by the available light and the scattering properties of the atmosphere (particles and gases). The scattering phase function of the aerosol has a strong dependence on the scattering angle, and depending on the viewing direction different parts of the atmosphere and the ground reflectivity give the most important contribution. The atmospheric radiance cannot be altered by optical instruments. On the other hand the light flux of a distant star increases with the size of the telescope, thus fainter stars become visible. Light extinction, scattering function, atmospheric radiance, ground reflectivity, color effects and others are discussed in detail and a simple theoretical treatment is given.

Organisation(en)

Aerosolphysik und Umweltphysik

Journal

Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer

Band

139

Seiten

3-12

Anzahl der Seiten

10

ISSN

0022-4073

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JQSRT.2013.08.009

Publikationsdatum

08-2013

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103021 Optik, 105904 Umweltforschung

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/5379eb21-d8b2-4e17-87a0-783f973a4585