OPTICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE.
Abstract
The balanced program of experimental and theoretical investigations of problems encountered in atmospheric optics has been continued. Formal solutions to the problem of radiant energy transfer in a physically realistic medium exhibiting both scattering and true absorption have been extended to a stage when numerical computations are possible. The problem of inversion, solutions of which will to a great extent define the practicability of indirect optical methods to probe planetary atmospheres, has been formally solved. The effect of a turbid layer on the radiation emerging from a planetary atmosphere has been studied in detail in two extreme but physically possible situations. New instruments and techniques have been designed and perfected to facilitate measurements of the polarization features of the emergent radiation which would supplement the theoretical investigations mentioned above. Two high altitude balloon experiments have been staged. A program of investigations of polarization of light reflected by natural surfaces under different conditions of illumination has been started with the ultimate objective of evaluating the elements of the reflection matrix. Measurements of changes in skylight polarization were successfully performed during the two total solar eclipses of 30 May 1965 and 12 Nov. 1966. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0651918
Entities
People
- C. R. Nagaraja Rao
- Z. Sekera
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles