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Numerous studies on calculating light scattering by dispersions of irregular particles (for example, Kahnert 2004) indicate that, by assuming simple regular particle shapes, such as the spherical or spheroidal shapes, the volume scattering function (i.e. essentially the M11 element of the scattering matrix, M) can be approximated significantly better than other (polarization-related) elements of M.

In particular, Kahnert concludes that a significant discrepancy between the best-fit shape distributions retrieved from light scattering and the actual shape distribution of the dispersion makes the retrieval of the particle shape distribution from light scattering problematic (at least at present). Nevertheless, the fact that simple particle shape models fail to accurately approximate elements of the scattering matrix that characterize polarization of the scattered light, suggests that these elements contain significant information on the particle shape, as pointed out by, for example, Nousiainen et al (2006).

See also Effective optical particle shape: A sphere and Effective optical particle shape: A spheroid.

CITATION:
Jonasz M. 2006. Effective optical particle shape (www.tpdsci.com/Tpc/EfOptPtShp.php). In: Top. Part. Disp. Sci. (www.tpdsci.com).
HISTORY:
Published: 05-Apr-2006
Modified: 30-May-2006
Peer-reviewed: 06-Apr-2006
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