Itaru SANO and Sonoyo MUKAI

Kinki University, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka, 577 Japan

(Received September 30, 1994; Accepted May 16, 1995)

This paper addresses the important role of how aerosols play in light scattering in the earth's atmosphere and how their characteristics can be retrieved. It is shown here, by referring to typical aerosol types, that more than a half of the atmospheric light is scattered by aerosols, and the aerosol optical properties can be estimated in terms of the scattering behavior. It is also confirmed that aerosol retrieval can be accurately determined by combining polarization and radiance data.

Key words : aerosol, light scattering, polarization, atmospheric correction