Optical scattering simulation of ice particles with surface roughness modeled using the Edwards-Wilkinson equation. (July 2016) - Zhang, Jianing
Abstract: Constructing an appropriate particle morphology model is essential for realistic simulation of optical properties of atmospheric particles. This paper presents a model for generating surface roughness based on a combination of methods from discrete differential geometry combined with a stochastic partial differential equation for surface evolution introduced by Edwards and Wilkinson. Scattering of light by roughened particles is simulated using the Invariant Imbedding T-Matrix (II-TM) method. The effects of surface roughness on the single-scattering properties, namely, the phase matrix, asymmetry factor, and extinction efficiency, are investigated for a single wavelength in the visible range and for a range of size parameters up to x =50. Three different smooth shapes are considered: spherical, spheroidal, and hexagonal, the latter two in just the "compact particle" case of unit aspect ratio. It is shown that roughness has negligible effects on the optical scattering properties for size parameters less than 20. For size parameters ranging from 20 to 50, the phase matrix elements are more sensitive to the surface roughness than are two important integral optical properties, the extinction efficiency and asymmetry factor. As has been seen in studies using other forms of roughening, the phase function is progressively smoothed as roughness increases. The effect on extinction efficiency is to increase it, and on asymmetry factor is to decrease it. Each of these effects is relatively modest in the size range considered, but the trend of results suggests that greater effects will be seen for size parameters larger than ones considered here. Highlights: The effect of surface roughness on ice crystal optical properties is investigated using a model based on a phenomenological evolution equation. Roughening is applied to spheres, spheroids, and hexagons. Exact results on scattering properties are obtained from the invariant imbedding T-matrix method. Roughening effects are shown for phase matrix elements, efficiency factors, and asymmetry factors.