Data bank of the optical properties of ice particles of cirrus clouds for interpretation of lidar data of Russian Orbital Station

Abstract

This paper it is shown that for an effective study of cirrus clouds by the method of laser polarization sensing, it is necessary to have: at least two wavelengths (for example, 0.532 and 1.064 μm); the ability to construct a color ratio for this pair of wavelengths; and the ability to measure the lidar and depolarization ratios at any from wavelengths. The use of a wavelength with strong absorption for ice (for example, 1.55 or 2.15 µm) is demonstrated to be promising for retrieving the average particle size in the cloud. Therefore, the combined use backscatter ratios measured by lidar (color, lidar, and depolarization ratios) demonstrates its effectiveness both in retrieving the shape and size of cirrus cloud particles.